Radiation image capturing system

ABSTRACT

According to one implementation of the present invention, there is provided a radiation image capturing system. The system includes, a radiation source; a plurality of radiation image capturing devices; and a console. The console manages which of the radiation image capturing devices is in a state where image capturing is possible. The console registers image capturing order information including information of which radiation image capturing device is used in the image capturing, or obtains the registered image capturing order information. When there is a radiation image capturing device in a state where image capturing is possible, regardless of a predetermined order, the console displays the icon corresponding to the image capturing order information including information of the radiation image capturing device in a manner different from the other icons.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/643,589, filed on Oct. 26, 2012, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference and priority towhich is hereby claimed. Application Ser. No. 13/643,589 is the U.S.National stage of application No. PCT/JP2011/054269, filed on Feb. 25,2011. Priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) and 35 U.S.C. §365(b) is herebyclaimed from Japanese Application No. 2010-109818, filed May 12, 2010,and 2010-151525, filed Jul. 2, 2010, the disclosures of which are bothalso incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a radiation image capturing system.Specifically, the present invention relates to a radiation imagecapturing system including a console to display on a display unit iconscorresponding to capturing order information to be selectable with theconsole.

BACKGROUND ART

For the purpose of diagnosis of disease, etc., radiation image capturedusing radiation such as X-ray images are widely used. Conventionally,such medical radiation images are captured using screen film. However,in order to digitalize radiation images, a CR (Computed Radiography)device which uses a photostimulable phosphor sheet has been developed.Recently, a radiation image capturing device which detects the emittedradiation with a radiation detecting element and obtains the digitalimage data has been developed.

Such type of radiation image capturing device is known as an FPD (FlatPanel Detector). Such device can display image data more speedily thanthe CR device and therefore can contribute to early diagnosis.Conventionally, such device was developed as a dedicated device formedas one with a supporting stage, etc. (for example, see patent documents1, 2). Lately, a portable radiation image capturing device in which theradiation detecting element, etc. can be stored in a housing to betransportable is developed and in practical use (for example, see patentdocuments 3, 4).

Various radiation image capturing devices are developed such as a directradiation image capturing device in which charge generated in adetecting element according to the amount of emitted radiation such asX-ray is converted to an electric signal. Another is an indirectradiation image capturing device in which after the emitted radiation isconverted to an electromagnetic wave of another wavelength such as avisible light with a scintillator, etc., charge is generated in aphotoelectric converting element such as photodiode, etc. according toenergy of the converted and emitted electromagnetic wave and convertedto an electric signal. In the present invention, the detecting elementin the direct radiation image capturing device and the photoelectricconverting element in the indirect radiation image capturing device arecollectively referred to as a radiation detecting element.

When a body, etc. of a patient is captured in a hospital or clinic usinga dedicated device or a portable radiation image capturing device, aradiation image capturing system may be configured where a radiationimage capturing device is provided or brought in the capturing room inthe hospital or clinic and a console provided outside the capturing roomis used to control the radiation image capturing device or the radiationgenerating device to capture the radiation image.

Such radiation image capturing system is usually configured to performradiation image capturing based on the later described capturing orderinformation (for example, see FIG. 13). The image capturing orderinformation sets information, instructions, etc. regarding the radiationimage capturing performed in the capturing room determined based oninquiry to the patient. For example, specified and registered are itemssuch as patient information such as patient ID, etc., capturingconditions such as portion of body of patient to be captured andcapturing direction, device information specifying device to be used.

The console may be configured to control the radiation image capturingdevice and the radiation generating device based on each piece of imagecapturing order information selected by the doctor or radiationtechnologist.

In the radiation image capturing system described in patent document 5,for example, it is proposed to display in a list each piece of imagecapturing order information regarding the patient who comes as a switchon the display unit of the console so that the radiology technologistcan select any image capturing order information from the switches ofeach piece of image capturing order information displayed in a list inan order such as from a setting where capturing can be performed easily.

As described in patent document 5, for example, when image capturing of“cervical vertebra front face”, “cervical vertebra side face”, “cervicalvertebra right rear oblique”, “cervical vertebra open mouth” isperformed on the patient, image capturing can be performed efficientlyif “cervical vertebra open mouth” which is captured in a state where thepatient is lying (in other words, lying position), after “cervicalvertebra front face”, “cervical vertebra side face”, “cervical vertebraright rear oblique” which are captured in a state where the patient isstanding (in other words, standing position) (or image capturing in areverse order).

Even if the order of the image capturing order information displayed asa list on the display unit of the console is “cervical vertebra frontface”, “cervical vertebra open mouth”, “cervical vertebra side face”,“cervical vertebra right rear oblique”, according to the radiation imagecapturing system described in Patent Document 5, for example, the orderof “cervical vertebra front face” “cervical vertebra side face”“cervical vertebra right rear oblique” can be selected and then“cervical vertebra open mouth” can be selected. Therefore, imagecapturing can be performed efficiently.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3890163-   Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. H9-73144-   Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. 2006-058124-   Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. H6-342099-   Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application    Publication No. 2000-166908

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, for example, there is a case where image capturing is performedon other patients before performing the string of radiation imagecapturing and the radiation generating device and the radiation imagecapturing device are already set to be able to perform image capturingin a lying position. In this case, when the radiation technologist whoperforms the string of image capturing knows the above, the radiationtechnologist selects image capturing starting from “cervical vertebraopen mouth” considering efficiency.

On the other hand, if the radiation technologist selects “cervicalvertebra front face”, etc., which performs image capturing in a standingposition, not knowing that the devices are set as described above, it isnecessary to start the radiation generating device and the radiationimage capturing device again, to adjust the position and the emissiondirection of the radiation source of the radiation generating device,etc., or it is necessary to load the portable radiation image capturingdevice into a bucky device for image capturing in a standing positionwhen the device is loaded into a bucky device for image capturing in alying position.

However, this reduces the efficiency of image capturing when the entireradiation image capturing system is considered. Moreover, it isdifficult to say that it is a system which is easy to use for anoperator such s a radiation technologist.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and thepurpose is to provide a radiation image capturing system which is easyto use for an operator such as a radiation technologist and enablesefficient radiation image capturing.

Means for Solving the Problem

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aradiation image capturing system including:

a radiation source which emits radiation on an object;

a plurality of radiation image capturing devices which include aplurality of radiation detecting elements which are two dimensional, andwhich read charge generated in each radiation detecting element by theradiation emission as image data; and

a console which manages which radiation image capturing device among theplurality of radiation image capturing devices is in a state where imagecapturing is possible, and which registers a plurality of pieces ofimage capturing order information including information of whichradiation image capturing device is used in the image capturing amongthe plurality of radiation image capturing devices, or which can obtainthe registered plurality of pieces of image capturing order information,

wherein the console includes a display unit which can display an iconcorresponding to each piece of image capturing order information;

the console displays each icon corresponding to each piece of imagecapturing order information in a predetermined order on the displayunit; and

when there is a radiation image capturing device in a state where imagecapturing is possible among the radiation image capturing devicesincluded in the registered or obtained plurality of pieces of imagecapturing order information, regardless of the predetermined order, theconsole displays the icon corresponding to the image capturing orderinformation including information of the radiation image capturingdevice in a manner different from the other icons.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda radiation image capturing system including:

a radiation source which emits radiation on an object;

a portable radiation image capturing device which includes a pluralityof radiation detecting elements which are two dimensional, and whichreads charge generated in each radiation detecting element by theradiation emission as image data;

a bucky device into which the portable radiation image capturing devicecan be loaded; and

a console which manages at least whether or not the portable radiationimage capturing device is loaded into the bucky device and whichregisters a plurality of pieces of image capturing order informationincluding information of whether or not to perform image capturing in astate where the portable radiation image capturing device is loaded intothe bucky device or which is possible to obtain the registered pluralityof pieces of image capturing order information,

wherein the console includes a display unit which can display an iconcorresponding to each piece of image capturing order information;

the console displays each icon corresponding to each piece of imagecapturing order information in a predetermined order o on the displayunit;

when the portable radiation image capturing device is loaded into thebucky device, regardless of the predetermined order, the consoledisplays the icon corresponding to the image capturing order informationincluding information showing that the portable radiation imagecapturing device is loaded into the bucky device in a manner differentfrom the other icons; and

when the portable radiation image capturing device is not loaded intothe bucky device, regardless of the predetermined order, the consoledisplays the icon corresponding to the image capturing order informationincluding information showing that the portable radiation imagecapturing device is not loaded into the bucky device in a mannerdifferent from the other icons.

Advantageous Effect of the Invention

According to the radiation image capturing system with a format asdescribed in the present invention, regardless of the order of thedisplay of the icon corresponding to each piece of image capturing orderinformation displayed on the display unit, when there is a radiationimage capturing device (dedicated device) which is in a state to be ableto perform capturing among a plurality of radiation image capturingdevices (dedicated device) or when the portable radiation imagecapturing device is loaded into the bucky device, the console displaysin a manner different from other icons the icon corresponding to theimage capturing order information which specifies image capturing usinga radiation image capturing device (dedicated device) which is able toperform image capturing or the icon corresponding to the image capturingorder information which specifies performing image capturing in a statewhere the portable radiation image capturing device is loaded into thebucky device.

Therefore, if image capturing is performed based on the image capturingorder information corresponding to the icon displayed in a mannerdifferent from other icons, the operator such as the radiationtechnologist can perform image capturing without newly setting theradiation image capturing device (dedicated device) in a state to beable to perform capturing or changing the state of loading the portableradiation image capturing device into the bucky device. Therefore, theradiation image capturing system can be easily used and the radiationimage capturing can be performed efficiently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of the radiationimage capturing system according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an external appearance of a portableradiation image capturing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an external appearance viewing theportable radiation image capturing device shown in FIG. 2 from theopposite side;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional diagram along line A-A shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a planar view showing a configuration of a substrate of theportable radiation image capturing device;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged diagram showing a configuration of radiationdetecting elements, TFT, etc. formed in a small region on the substrateshown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side diagram describing a substrate on which a COF, PCBsubstrate, etc. are attached;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an equivalent circuit of the portableradiation image capturing device;

FIG. 9 is a diagram describing a bucky device in which a connector isprovided inside the cassette holding unit;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an external appearance showing a statewhere the connector of the portable radiation image capturing device isconnected to the connector of the bucky device;

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional diagram showing a state in which theportable radiation image capturing device is inserted in the cradle andthe connectors are connected to each other;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration including a tag reader as adetecting unit;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of image capturing orderinformation;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen displayingimage capturing order information;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen which displays eachicon corresponding to each piece of image capturing order information;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen to selectthe portable radiation image capturing device and the CR cassette;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen displayedon the display unit of the console when there is only one portableradiation image capturing device in the capturing room according to thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a diagram describing the icon I2 is focused in the selectionscreen shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram describing a preview image is displayed instead ofthe icon I2 shown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a diagram describing the generated radiation image isdisplayed in the position where the preview image is displayed in FIG.19;

FIG. 21 is a diagram describing the icon I3 is selected and focusedafter the state shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen displayedin the display unit of the console when there are a plurality ofportable radiation image capturing devices in the capturing roomaccording to the second embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a diagram describing the corresponding plurality of icons areeach displayed focused when there are a plurality of pieces of imagecapturing order information with which capturing can be performed;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of a medical imagesystem;

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of theradiation image capturing system of the medical image system shown inFIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a radiation image capturingsystem where the plurality of image capturing rooms and the plurality ofconsoles are connected in a predetermined method;

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of a radiation image capturingsystem in which the plurality of image capturing rooms and the pluralityof consoles are each connected through a network;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a state where each medical imagecorresponding to each icon is displayed in the position where each iconis displayed;

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a table of order oftransmission of the string of medical images from the console to theinterpretation image management device determined in a default state;

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a history table of the orderof transmission which is modified by adding capturing portion andcapturing condition to the bottom of the table shown in FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of the history table in whichthe order of transmission is modified due to change in the order withthe image display device, etc.;

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission preview screendisplayed on the screen of the display unit and an example of eachmedical image displayed arranged in order;

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing each medical image displayed below eachmedical image when the “NG” button is clicked in the transmissionpreview screen shown in FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the order of display of each medical imagedisplayed below the transmission preview screen shown in FIG. 33 can bechanged; and

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing when the “enter” button of the transmissionpreview screen shown in FIG. 34 is clicked, each medical image isdisplayed in a changed order of display.

EMBODIMENT FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the radiation image capturing system of the presentinvention is described with reference to the drawings. However, thepresent invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of the radiationimage capturing system according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

An image capturing room Ra is a room in which radiation image capturingis performed by emitting radiation to an object which is a portion of abody of a patient (in other words, a capturing portion of the patient).A radiation source 52, etc. of a radiation generating device 57 of aradiation emitting device to emit radiation to an object is provided inthe image capturing room Ra. The image capturing room Ra is shieldedwith lead so that radiation does not leak outside of the image capturingroom.

According to the present embodiment, a portable radiation imagecapturing device 1 as described below is used as the radiation imagecapturing device. In the image capturing room Ra, a bucky device 51 intowhich a portable radiation image capturing device 1 can be loaded isprovided. The bucky device 51, the radiation source 52, etc. aredescribed later.

Here, first the portable radiation image capturing device 1 used in theradiation image capturing with the radiation image capturing system 50is described.

Below, the portable radiation image capturing device is referred assimply the radiation image capturing device. Below, as the radiationimage capturing device 1, the present embodiment describes an indirectradiation image capturing device including a scintillator, etc. andwhich converts emitted radiation to an electromagnetic wave with anotherwavelength such as visible light to obtain an electric signal. However,the present invention can be applied to a direct radiation imagecapturing device in which radiation is directly detected with aradiation detecting element without a scintillator, etc.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an external appearance of the radiationimage capturing device according to the present embodiment and FIG. 3 isa perspective view of an external appearance of the radiation imagecapturing device viewed from the opposite side. FIG. 4 is a crosssectional diagram along line A-A shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2 toFIG. 4, in the radiation image capturing device 1, a sensor panel SPincluding a scintillator 3, substrate 4, etc. is stored in a housing 2in a box shape.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in the box 2 of the present embodiment, ahousing main unit 2A in a hollow square tube shape including a radiationentering face R is formed with a material such as carbon plate, plastic,etc. which transmits radiation, and the box 2 is formed by closingopenings on both sides of the housing main unit 2A with cover members 2Band 2C. Instead of forming the box 2 in such monocoque shape, forexample, the box 2 can be formed in a lunch box shape formed with aframe plate and a back plate.

As shown in FIG. 2, a cover member 2B on one side of the box 2 isprovided with a power source switch 37, a selection switch 38, aconnector 39, an indicator 40 which includes an LED, etc. which displaysbattery state and operating state, etc. of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, an antenna device 41 which is a communication unitis embedded in the cover member 2C on the opposite side of the box 2 towirelessly transfer image data, etc. to the console 58. It is alsopossible to transfer image data, etc. to the console 58 in a wiredformat. In this case, for example, transmission and reception isperformed by connecting a cable etc. to the connector 39. When anantenna device 41 is provided, the position and the number of antennadevices 41 provided on the box 2 is suitably determined.

As shown in FIG. 4, inside the box 2, a base 31 is provided through alead thin plate, etc. which is not shown on a lower side of a substrate4 of a sensor panel SP. A PCB substrate 33 provided with electroniccomponents 32, etc., a buffering member 34 and the like are attached tothe base 31.

In the present embodiment, a glass substrate 35 is provided on thesubstrate 4 and the scintillator 3 on the side of the radiation enteringface R to protect the above. In the present embodiment, a buffer 36 isprovided between the side face of the box 2 and the sensor panel SP toprevent collision.

The scintillator 3 is pasted to a later described detecting unit P ofthe substrate 4. For example, the present embodiment employs ascintillator 3 with phosphor as the main component, and when radiationenters, the radiation is converted and output to an electromagnetic wavewith a wavelength of 300 to 800 nm, in other words, an electromagneticwave mainly of visible light.

In the present embodiment, the substrate 4 is a glass substrate, and asshown in FIG. 5, a plurality of scanning lines 5 and a plurality ofsignal lines 6 are provided to intersect each other on a face 4a of thesubstrate 4 on a side opposite of the scintillator 3. A radiationdetecting element 7 is provided in each small region r defined by theplurality of scanning lines 5 and the plurality of signal lines 6 on theface 4a of the substrate 4.

As described above, a region defined into small regions r by scanninglines 5 and signal lines 6 is provided with a plurality of radiationdetecting elements 7 provided in two dimensions and the entire region ofthe region r, in other words, the region shown with alternate long andshort dash line in FIG. 5 is to be the detecting section P.

In the present embodiment, a photodiode is used as the radiationdetecting element 7, however, it is possible to use other material suchas a phototransistor. As shown in FIG. 6 which is an enlarged diagram ofFIG. 5, each radiation detecting element 7 is connected to a sourceelectrode 8 s of a TFT 8 which is a switch unit. A drain electrode 8 dof the TFT 8 is connected to a signal line 6.

When the on voltage is applied to the gate electrode 8 g through thescanning line 5 from a later described scanning driving unit 15, the TFT8 becomes the on state, and charge accumulated in the radiationdetecting element 7 is discharged to the signal line 6 through thesource electrode 8 s and the drain electrode 8 d. When the off voltageis applied to the gate electrode 8 g through the connected scanning line5, the TFT 8 becomes the off state, and discharge of charge from theradiation detecting element 7 to the signal line 6 stops to hold chargein the radiation detecting element 7.

According to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality ofradiation detecting elements 7 provided in columns are connected to eachbias line 9 and as shown in FIG. 5, each bias line 9 is band by oneconnecting line 10 in a position outside the detecting unit P of thesubstrate 4.

Each scanning line 5, each signal line 6, and the connecting line 10 ofthe bias line 9 are connected to an input/output terminal (pad) 11provided near the edge of the substrate 4. As shown in FIG. 7, a COF(Chip On Film) 12 with a chip such as IC 12 a, etc. embedded on a filmis connected to each input/output terminal 11 through an anisotropicconductive material 13 such as an anisotropic conductive film oranisotropic conductive paste.

Then, the COF 12 is pulled to a rear surface 4 b side of the substrate 4and connected to the above described PCB substrate 33 on the rearsurface 4 b side. With this, the substrate 4 portion of the sensor panelSP of the radiation image capturing device 1 is formed. In FIG. 7, theillustration of the electronic components 32, etc. is omitted.

Here, the circuit configuration of the radiation image capturing device1 is described with reference to FIG. 8.

As described above, each bias line 9 is connected to one electrode ofeach radiation detecting element 7, and the bias lines 9 are band by theconnecting line 10 to be connected to the bias supply 14. The biassupply 14 applies a bias voltage (in the present embodiment, reversebias voltage) to each electrode of each radiation detecting element 7through the connecting line 10 and each bias line 9.

The other electrode of each radiation detecting element 7 is connectedto a source electrode 8 s (described as S in FIG. 8) of the TFT 8 andthe gate electrode 8 g (described as G in FIG. 8) of each TFT 8 isconnected to each line L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 extending fromthe gate driver 15 b of the scanning driving unit 15. The drainelectrode 8 d (described as D in FIG. 8) of each TFT 8 is connected toeach signal line 6.

The scanning driving unit 15 includes a power source circuit 15 a whichsupplies an on voltage and an off voltage to a gate driver 15 b, and thegate driver 15 b which switches the voltage applied to each line L1 toLx of the scanning line 5 between the on voltage and the off voltage. Asdescribed above, the gate driver 15 b switches the voltage applied tothe gate electrode 8 g of the TFT 8 through each line L1 to Lx of thescanning line 5 between the on voltage and the off voltage to controlthe on state and the off state of the TFT 8.

Each signal line 6 is connected to each reading circuit 17 formed in thereading IC 16. The reading circuit 17 includes an amplifying circuit 18,a correlated double sampling circuit 19, an analog multiplexer 21 and anA/D converter 20.

For example, in the radiation image capturing, when radiation is emittedto the radiation image capturing device 1 through the object, theradiation is converted to an electromagnetic wave in another wavelengthin the scintillator 3, and the converted electromagnetic wave is emittedto the radiation detecting element 7 directly below. Then, charge isgenerated in the radiation detecting element 7 according to the amountof emitted radiation (in other words, amount of electromagnetic wave).

In the reading processing of the image data from each radiationdetecting element 7, when on voltage is applied to a predetermined lineLn of the scanning line 5 from the gate driver 15 b of the scanningdriving unit 15, on voltage is applied to the gate electrode 8 g of eachTFT 8 connected through the line Ln of the scanning line 5 and each TFT8 becomes an on state, and charge is discharged to the signal line 6from the radiation detecting element 7 connected to each TFT 8 in an onstate through each TFT 8.

Then, a voltage value is output from the amplifying circuit 18 accordingto the charge amount discharged from the radiation detecting element 7and correlated double sampling by the correlated double sampling circuit19 is performed to output the image data D with an analog value to themultiplexer 21. The image data D sequentially output from themultiplexer 21 is sequentially converted to the image data D with adigital value in the A/D converter 20 and output to the storage unit 23to be sequentially stored.

The control unit 22 includes a computer including a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random AccessMemory), an input/output interface, etc. connected to a bus, a FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array), and the like which are not shown. Thecontrol unit 22 can include a dedicated control circuit.

The control unit 22 controls operation, etc. of each functional unitsuch as the scanning driving unit 15, reading circuit 17, etc. of theradiation image capturing device 1. A storage unit 23 including a DRAM(Dynamic RAM), etc., and a battery 24 which supplies electric power toeach functional unit of the radiation image capturing device 1 areconnected to the control unit 22. The above described antenna device 41is connected to the control unit 22.

When the radiation image capturing is performed, the control unit 22performs the reading processing which reads the charge from eachradiation detecting element 7, in other words, the image data D, asdescribed above. In the present embodiment, the control unit 22 thinsout each piece of image data at a predetermined percentage to createthinned out data Dt for preview based on each piece of image data Dstored in the storage unit 23 read out from each radiation detectingelement 7.

In the present embodiment, when the radiation image capturing ends andthe image data D is read from each radiation detecting element 7 to bestored in the storage unit 23, the control unit 22 immediately createsthe thinned out data Dt. Then, when the thinned out data Dt is created,a cassette ID which is identification information of the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is immediately applied to the thinned out data Dt andthe data is transmitted to a later described console 58. Thetransmission of the thinned out data Dt is performed for each radiationimage capturing.

In the present embodiment, as described below, when the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is used by itself without loading into the buckydevice 51 (in other words, when nothing is connected to the connector 39(see FIG. 2)), the control unit 22 transmits to the console 58 thethinned out data Dt, the image data D, a later described offsetcorrection value O, etc. in a wireless format through the antenna device41. Alternatively, when the radiation image capturing device 1 is usedloaded into the bucky device 51 (in other words, when the connector 51 b(see FIG. 9 and FIG. 10) of the bucky device 51 is connected to theconnector 39), the control unit 22 transmits to the console 58 thinnedout data Dt etc. in a wired format through the bucky device 51.

Thinned out data Dt can be created by, for example, when each piece ofimage data D is arranged corresponding to each radiation detectingelement 7 arranged two dimensionally, image data D of one pixel can beextracted for every 3×3 pixels or 4×4 pixels or as in image data D fromeach radiation detecting element 7 connected to each line L1, L4, L7,etc. of the scanning line 5, image data D can be extracted from eachradiation detecting element 7 connected to each line Ln for eachpredetermined interval of the scanning line 5.

In the present embodiment, after the thinned out data Dt is transmittedto the console 58, the control unit 22 applies a cassette ID to theimage data D corresponding to the source of creating the thinned outdata Dt and the data is automatically transmitted to the console 58.

Instead of creating and transmitting the thinned out data Dt, it ispossible to transmit the image data D from the beginning. It is possibleto transmit the image data D at the point when there is a transmissioninstruction from the console 58, etc.

It is possible to allow only the image data D other than the thinned outdata Dt already transmitted to be transmitted among the image data Dwhen the image data D is transmitted. In this case, the console 58restores the whole image data D by combining the thinned out data Dtalready received and the newly transmitted other image data D.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 22 automatically performsthe dark reading processing to obtain the offset correction value O inorder to correct the offset amount overlapped on the image data Dobtained by the radiation image capturing when each radiation imagecapturing finishes or when a string of radiation image capturingfinishes. It is possible to perform the dark reading processing before asingle or a string of radiation image capturing starts.

In the dark reading processing, after each TFT 8 of the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is in an off state and the radiation image capturingdevice 1 is left for a predetermined amount of time without emittingradiation to the radiation image capturing device 1, similar to theabove reading processing, accumulated dark charge, etc. is read as thedark reading value d from each radiation detecting element 7 and storedin the storage unit 23.

Then, the control unit 22 sets the read dark reading value d for eachradiation detecting element 7 to the offset correction value O orperforms the dark reading processing a plurality of times to average theplurality of dark reading values d obtained for each radiation detectingelement 7 to calculate the offset correction value O. Then, the cassetteID which is the identification information of the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is applied to the offset correction value O to beautomatically transmitted to the console 58.

In the present embodiment, as described later, when the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is brought in the image capturing room Ra, theradiation image capturing device 1 is inserted in a later describedcradle 55 which is the detecting unit. Here, when the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is inserted in the cradle 55, and the connector 39(see FIG. 2) is connected to a connector 55 a of the cradle 55 (seelater described FIG. 11), the control unit 22 notifies the cassette IDwhich is the identification information of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 to a later described base station 54 (see FIG. 1) through thecradle 55.

When the selection switch 38 (see FIG. 2) which is the selection unit ispressed by an operator such as a radiation technologist, etc., thecassette ID which is its identification information and a selectionsignal showing that it is selected is transmitted to the console 58through the antenna device 41.

As described later, in the present embodiment, the portable radiationimage capturing device 1 is a size compatible with a CR cassette and canbe loaded into the later described bucky device 51 existing in afacility.

When the radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded into the buckydevice 51, the radiation image capturing device 1 receives supply ofelectric power from the bucky device 51. When the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is in a state by itself not loaded into the buckydevice 51, the battery 24 (see FIG. 8) supplies electric power to eachfunctional unit such as the control unit 22, the bias supply 14, thescanning driving unit 15, the reading circuit 17 (reading IC 16), etc.When the radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded into the buckydevice, transfer of image data, communication regarding control, etc.are performed wired through the bucky device 51.

As described below, when the radiation image capturing device 1 isloaded into the bucky device 51, the radiation image capturing device 1receives supply of electric power from the bucky device 51. When theradiation image capturing device 1 is by itself and not loaded into thebucky device 51, the battery 24 (see FIG. 8) supplies electric power toeach functional unit such as the control unit 22, the bias supply 14,the scanning driving unit 15, the reading circuit 17 (reading IC 16).

Then, if the electric power is supplied to each functional unit when theradiation image capturing, the reading processing of the image data D,etc. is not performed, the battery 24 is consumed. Therefore, the modeof the radiation image capturing device 1 can be switched between animage capturing possible mode which is a state where electric power issupplied to each functional unit so that radiation image capturing canbe performed, in other words a state where image capturing can beperformed, and a sleep mode where electric power is not supplied to eachfunctional unit when radiation image capturing is not performed.

In the sleep mode, electric power is supplied to only the minimumfunctional units which need to be started in order to receive signalsfrom the console 58, etc., such as the antenna device 41, the controlunit 22, etc. and electric power is not supplied to the bias supply 14,the scanning driving unit 15, the reading circuit 17, the reading IC 16,etc.

It is suitably set whether the radiation image capturing device 1 isstarted with the image capturing possible mode or the sleep mode whenthe power source switch 37 (see FIG. 2) is pressed. At least when theselection switch 38 is pressed, if the radiation image capturing device1 is in the sleep mode, the mode of the radiation image capturing device1 is switched to the image capturing possible mode.

When the radiation image capturing is not performed for a predeterminedamount of time after switching to the image capturing possible mode, theradiation image capturing device 1 automatically switches the mode tosleep mode when a predetermined amount of time passes.

Then, when the mode switches, the radiation image capturing device 1transmits the signal showing that the mode is the image capturingpossible mode or the signal showing that the mode is the sleep modetogether with its cassette ID to the console 38.

Next, each device, etc. in the radiation image capturing system 50 isdescribed.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the bucky device 51 canbe used by loading the portable radiation image capturing device 1 intothe cassette holding unit (cassette holder) 51 a.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, a bucky device 51A forimage capturing in a standing position and a bucky device 51B for imagecapturing in a lying position are provided in the image capturing roomRa as the bucky device 51. Alternatively, for example, the presentinvention can be applied when only the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position or only the bucky device 51B for imagecapturing in a lying position are provided.

In the present embodiment, the bucky device 51 can be used by loading aconventional CR cassette into the cassette holding unit 51 a and it ispossible to use an existing bucky device provided for a CR cassette inthe image capturing room Ra.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the above described portableradiation image capturing device 1 is formed to be the same dimension asthe CR cassette.

In other words, the CR cassette is formed in compliance with the JISstandard size (corresponding international standard is IEC 60406) of theconventional screen film cassette, and the dimension is 14 inches×17inches (half cut size). The thickness of the radiation enteringdirection is formed to be within the range of 15 mm+1 mm to 15 mm−2 mm.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to enable use by loadinginto the bucky device 51 into which the CR cassette with the JISstandard size can be loaded, the portable radiation image capturingdevice 1 is formed in a dimension in compliance with the JIS standard ofa screen film cassette in compliance with the CR cassette.

When the existing bucky device for the screen/film cassette or the CRcassette is not used, it is not necessary to form the radiation imagecapturing device 1 in the above dimension, and the radiation imagecapturing device 1 can be formed in any size or shape. However, here, asthe bucky device 51, it is necessary to newly provide in the imagecapturing room Ra a bucky device in which the radiation image capturingdevice 1 in any set shape can be loaded.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the present embodiment, a connector 51 b which isconnected to the connector 39 (see FIG. 2) of the loaded radiation imagecapturing device 1 is provided in the cassette holding unit 51 a of thebucky device 51.

FIG. 9 shows an example of using the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position, however the same can be said for thebucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position. Alternatively,instead of providing a connector 51 b inside the cassette holding unit51 a of the bucky device 51, as shown in FIG. 10, before loading theradiation image capturing device 1 to the bucky device 51, the connector51 b provided to a tip of a cable extending from the bucky device 51 canbe connected to the connecter 39 of the radiation image capturing device1 and the radiation image capturing device 1 can be loaded on thecassette holding unit 51 a of the bucky device 51.

In the present embodiment, when the connector 51 b is connected to theconnector 39 of the radiation image capturing device 1, the bucky device51 reads the cassette ID which is the identification information fromthe radiation image capturing device 1 and corresponds the cassette IDof the radiation image capturing device 1 with the bucky ID which is itsidentification information and transmits the above to the console 58.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is used loaded into the cassette holding unit 51 a,the bucky device 51 transmits to the console 58 by transmitting in awired format to the later described base station 54 the thinned out dataDt, the image data D, and the off set correction value O output from theradiation image capturing device 1 through the connector 39.

In the present embodiment, when the connector 51 b of the bucky device51 is connected to the connector 39 of the radiation image capturingdevice 1, electric power is supplied from the bucky device 51 to theradiation image capturing device 1. Therefore, when the connector 39 andthe connector 51 b are connected to each other, the control unit 22 ofthe radiation image capturing device 1 stops supply of electric powerfrom the battery 24 (see FIG. 8) to each functional unit and switches sothat electric power is supplied to each functional unit through theconnector 39 from the bucky device 51. The battery 24 can be chargedwhile supplying electric power to each functional unit.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the bucky device 51 canbe used loading a conventional CR cassette into the cassette holdingunit 51 a and although illustration is omitted, it is preferable that abarcode reader, etc. which is a reading unit which optically reads abarcode (not shown) of the CR cassette when the CR cassette is loaded isprovided in the cassette holding unit 51 a of the bucky device 51.

When the barcode reader reads the barcode of the CR cassette, the buckydevice 51 reads the barcode information which is the identificationinformation of the CR cassette from the read information and correspondsthe barcode information of the CR cassette with the bucky ID which isits identification information to be transmitted to the console 58. Whenthe barcode information is transmitted, it can be understood that theimage capturing is performed in a CR format and it is possible tocontrol switching so that the emitted radiation amount of the X-raygenerating device corresponds to the CR format (increase the emittedradiation amount than image capturing in the FPD format). After theimage capturing, the CR cassette is loaded into one of the plurality ofCR reading devices provided in another place and by transmitting to theserver, etc. the cassette ID and the image data read by the CR readingdevice as a pair, the console can obtain the read image data with thecassette ID as the key, and the image capturing order information can becorresponded with the image data.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the image capturing room Ra, at least oneradiation source 52 is provided to emit radiation to the object. In thepresent embodiment, among the radiation sources 52, for example, oneradiation source 52A is positioned hanged from the ceiling of the imagecapturing room Ra and when the image capturing is performed, theradiation source 52A is started based on the instruction from theconsole 58 and is moved to a predetermined position by a moving unit notshown. Then, the emission direction of the radiation is changed so thatthe radiation can be emitted to the radiation image capturing device 1loaded into the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition and the bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lyingposition.

The present embodiment is provided with a portable radiation generatingdevice 52B which is not corresponded to the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position and the bucky device 51B for imagecapturing in a lying position. The portable radiation generating device52B can be moved to any position in the image capturing room Ra and canemit radiation in any direction.

The portable radiation generating device 52B can be used to emitradiation from a suitable distance or direction where the radiationimage capturing device 1 is in a state by itself (in other words, in astate not loaded into the bucky device 51) and placed against a portionof the body of the patient who is the object or inserted between thebody of the patient and the table (bed) of the bucky device 51B forimage capturing in a lying position or a dedicated bed not shown.

In the present embodiment, the portable radiation image capturing device1 can be used in the radiation image capturing in a state by itself notloaded on the bucky device 51.

The radiation source 52 includes an X-ray tube bulb. When apredetermined tube voltage or a tube current is supplied from the laterdescribed radiation generating device 57, the X-ray tube bulb emitsradiation of an amount according to the tube voltage, etc. for anemitting time specified from the radiation generating device 57.

As described above, since the image capturing room Ra is shielded bylead, etc., it is not possible to transmit or receive information suchas image data D as is through the antenna device 41 from the radiationimage capturing device 1 in the image capturing room Ra. As shown inFIG. 1, when wireless communication is performed between the radiationimage capturing device 1 and the console 58, the present embodiment isprovided with the base station (wireless access point) 54 including thewireless antenna 53 to relay the communication.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the bucky device 51 andthe base station 54 are connected with a cable, etc., and when theradiation image capturing device 1 is used loaded into the bucky device51, the thinned out data Dt, etc. output from the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is transmitted to the console 58 in a wired formatthrough the bucky device 51, the base station 54, and the like.

The cradle 55 is connected to the base station 54. As shown in FIG. 11,when the radiation image capturing device 1 brought into the imagecapturing room Ra is inserted in the cradle 55 and the connector 39 ofthe radiation image capturing device 1 is connected to the connector 55a of the cradle 55, the cassette ID is notified from the radiation imagecapturing device 1 to the base station 54 through the cradle 55 asdescribed above. When the cassette ID of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 is transmitted from the cradle 55, the base station 54 notifiesthe cassette ID to the console 58.

The cradle 55 is usually used to store and charge the radiation imagecapturing device 1, etc. In the present embodiment, the cradle 55 caninclude functions such as charging. FIG. 11 shows the cradle 55 providedwith two inserting openings to insert the radiation image capturingdevice 1. The inserting opening provided can be one or can be three ormore.

The cradle 55 can be provided in any of the image capturing room Ra andthe front room Rb. When the cradle 55 is provided in the image capturingroom Ra, the cradle 55 is provided in the position where the radiationemitted from the radiation generating device 52 cannot reach, in otherwords, for example, a position in a corner of the capturing room Ra.

As the detecting unit which detects the radiation image capturing device1 brought into the image capturing room Ra or the front room Rb andwhich notifies the cassette ID to the console 58, instead of using thecradle 55 as in the present embodiment or together with the cradle 55,for example, a tag reader 60 can be provided near a door of the frontroom Rb as shown in FIG. 12.

In this case, a tag not shown such as an RFID (Radio FrequencyIdentification) tag is included in the radiation image capturing device1 in advance and the unique information such as the cassette ID, etc. ofthe radiation image capturing device 1 is stored in the tag.

Then, when the radiation image capturing device 1 is brought into theimage capturing room Ra or the front room Rb passing near the tag reader60, the tag reader 60 can read the information such as the cassette ID,etc. from the tag of the radiation image capturing device 1 and notifythe cassette ID to the console 58.

As described above, when the tag reader 60 is used as the detectingunit, it is possible to detect when the radiation image capturing device1 is brought into the image capturing room Ra and when the radiationimage capturing device 1 is brought out of the image capturing room Ra,which is preferable. In this case, it is possible to double check atleast when the radiation image capturing device 1 is brought into theimage capturing room Ra with the tag reader 60 and the cradle 55. Whenonly the tag reader 60 is used as the detecting unit, for example, thecradle 55 can be used for simply charging of the radiation imagecapturing device 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front room (also called an operation room, etc.)Rb is provided with an operation table 57 of the radiation generatingdevice including an exposure switch 56, etc. to instruct to theradiation source 52 to start emission of radiation.

In the present embodiment, the console 58 is provided in the front roomRb and includes a computer, etc. where a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, aninput/output interface and the like not shown are connected through abus. A predetermined program is stored in the ROM and the console 58reads the necessary program, expands the program in the work region ofthe RAM and performs various processing according to the program.

The console 58 is provided with a display unit 58 a including a CRT(Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), etc. and an inputunit, etc. which is not shown such as a keyboard or mouse is connectedto the console 58. A storage unit 59 including a hard disk, etc. isconnected to the console 58. Although illustration is omitted, othercomputers, external devices such as an imager which records a radiationimage based on the image data output from the console 58 on an imagerecording medium such as film and outputs the image are also connectedto the console 58 through a LAN (Local Area Network).

As described above, when the radiation image capturing device 1 broughtinto the image capturing room Ra is inserted and the cassette ID, etc.of the radiation image capturing device 1 is transmitted through thecradle 55 and the base station 54, the console 58 stores the cassette IDin the storage unit 59 and acknowledges and manages that the radiationimage capturing device 1 with the above cassette ID is brought into theimage capturing room Ra or the front room Rb.

As described above, when a signal showing that the mode is the imagecapturing possible mode is transmitted with the cassette ID from theradiation image capturing device 1, if the information showing the modestored corresponded with the cassette ID stored in the storage unit 59is the information showing the image capturing possible mode, theconsole 58 leaves the information as is, and if the information showingthe stored mode is the information showing the sleep mode, the console58 newly corresponds the information showing the image capturingpossible mode to the cassette ID and overwrites and store theinformation.

When a signal showing that the mode is the sleep mode is transmittedwith the cassette ID from the radiation image capturing device 1, if theinformation showing the mode stored corresponded with the cassette IDstored in the storage unit 59 is the information showing the sleep mode,the console 58 leaves the information as is, and if the informationshowing the stored mode is the information showing the image capturingpossible mode, the console 58 newly corresponds the information showingthe sleep mode to the cassette ID and overwrites and stores theinformation.

In this way, the console 58 acknowledges and manages whether the presentmode of the radiation image capturing device 1 is either the imagecapturing possible mode or the sleep mode.

As described above, when the cassette ID of the radiation imagecapturing device 1 and the bucky ID are transmitted from the buckydevice 51 where the radiation image capturing device 1 is connected tothe connector 51 b, the console 58 stores the bucky ID corresponded tothe cassette ID stored in the storage unit 59.

When the CR cassette is loaded into the bucky device 51 and the barcodeinformation of the CR cassette and the bucky ID are transmitted from thebucky device 51, the barcode information and the bucky ID are stored inthe storage unit 59 corresponded to each other.

When the connection between the radiation image capturing device 1 andthe connector 51 b is released, the corresponding relation between thecassette ID of the radiation image capturing device 1 and the bucky IDstored in the storage unit 59 is released, and only the cassette ID isstored.

As described above, when the radiation image capturing device 1 is usedloaded into the bucky device 51, the console 58 acknowledges and manageswhich radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded or not loaded intowhich bucky device 51. When the CR cassette is loaded into the buckydevice 51, the console 58 acknowledges and manages which CR cassette isloaded into which bucky device 51.

It is possible to register in advance image capturing order informationsetting information necessary to perform predetermined radiation imagecapturing for each patient in a HIS (Hospital Information System) or RIS(Radiology Information System).

For example, as shown in the example of FIG. 13, the image capturingorder information includes, “patient ID” P2, “patient name” P3, “sex”P4, “age” P5, “department” P6 as patient information and “capturingportion” P7, “capturing direction” P8 as capturing conditions. Thepresent embodiment is provided with item “bucky ID” P9 as information ofwhether or not to perform image capturing in a state where the radiationimage capturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51 and when theimage capturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51, the buckyID is described.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, the bucky ID “001” and “002” each showthe bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position and thebucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position. The bucky ID“003” shows that the radiation image capturing device 1 is used in astate by itself without loading into the bucky device 51. The bucky IDis “003” when the radiation image capturing device 1 is used in a stateby itself without loading into the bucky device 51 because if the buckyID is blank when the radiation image capturing device 1 is used in astate by itself, it is difficult to distinguish from when description isforgotten. Therefore, other display methods which show that theradiation image capturing device 1 is used in a state by itself can beemployed and the display method is suitably determined. Instead of thebucky ID, three types of icons each showing the standing position bucky,the lying position bucky, and use by itself can be prepared, and an iconcan be displayed corresponded to each image capturing order. In suchconfiguration, the technologist, etc. can easily confirm by sight whichcapturing device to be used before image capturing, and mistakes hardlyoccur.

“Capturing order ID” P1 is automatically assigned to each imagecapturing order information in the order that the image capturing orderis registered.

The content of the patient information and the capturing conditionwritten in the image capturing order information is not limited to theabove, and for example, it is possible to include information such asbirthday of the patient, number of times of examination, amount ofradiation, whether the patient is fat or thin, and the like. The examplebelow describes a plurality of pieces of image capturing orderinformation registered for each patient.

With the operation by the operator such as the radiation technologist,etc., when each piece of image capturing order information is registeredin the console 58 itself, the console 58 accesses to the storage unit 59where each piece of image capturing order information is stored. Wheneach piece of image capturing order information is registered in the RISor HIS, the console 58 obtains each piece of necessary image capturingorder information from the RIS or the HIS.

In this case, the necessary image capturing order information can beobtained from the storage unit 59 or other computer with a suitablemethod such as the operator inputting in the console 58 the name of thepatient, the patient ID, etc. of the image capturing to be performed,reading the barcode described in the image capturing request broughtfrom the patient with a reading device to be input to the console 58, orwhen the capturing date is specified in the image capturing orderinformation, inputting the capturing date in the console 58.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14, when the capturing order information isobtained, the console 58 displays a list of each piece of imagecapturing order information as the selection screen H1 on the displayunit 58 a of the console 58.

In the present embodiment, an image capturing order information displayfield h11 is provided in the selection screen H1 to display the list ofeach piece of image capturing order information. On the left side of theimage capturing order information display field h11, a selection buttonh12 to select the image capturing order information to be captured isprovided corresponding to each piece of image capturing orderinformation. On the bottom side of the image capturing order informationdisplay field h11, an enter button h13 and a return button h14 areprovided.

Then, for example, the operator clicks the selection button h12 andselects four pieces of image capturing order information regarding thepatient “A”. When the enter button h13 is clicked, the console 58displays a screen H2 as shown in FIG. 15 on the display unit 58 a.

In other words, the console 58 displays on the display unit 58 a theicons I1 to I4 corresponding to each piece of selected image capturingorder information in an order from a small number of the capturing orderID (see P1 of FIG. 14, etc.), in other words in the order ofregistration.

Basically, the display is based on the order of registration. However,when there is a predetermined rule in the facility such as to capture astring of portions from the head to the heel, the order can berearranged to an order from top (head) to bottom (heel) or from bottom(heel) to top (head). When there is an image capturing order of bothleft and right portions such as the hand, leg, etc., in order to preventmixing between the left and the right, the order can be rearranged to anorder based on a condition of image capturing from the left or capturingfrom the right.

In FIG. 15, each icon I1 to I4 is displayed on the screen H2 alignedfrom the left side in a left and right direction, however, the alignmentis not limited to the above, and for example each icon I1 to I4 can bedisplayed aligned from the upper side in an upper and lower direction.The method of display of each icon I1 to I4 is suitably set.

The icons I1 to I4 are aligned in the registered order. However, whenimage capturing order information with a different patient ID (see P3 ofFIG. 14, etc.) or different department (see P6) is included in eachselected image capturing order information, the icons I corresponding tothe image capturing order information with the same patient ordepartment can be displayed adjacent to each other regardless of theorder of registration.

As described later, as the simplest case, the present embodimentdescribes when only one radiation image capturing device 1 is broughtinto the image capturing room Ra. However, first, the icon I displayedon the display unit 58 a of the console 58 is described. For the purposeof description, as a typical case, the example describes when aplurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 are already broughtinto the image capturing room Ra and at least one radiation imagecapturing device 1 among those brought in is already loaded into a buckydevice.

As shown in FIG. 15, in the present embodiment, the icons I1 to I4 eachdisplay capturing number such as “KM-0001”, capturing portion (P7) andcapturing direction (P8) such as “abdomen region front face P→A”,whether a bucky device 51 such as “lying position” is used, type ofbucky device 51 to be used, and the like.

In the example shown in FIG. 15, a horizontally long rectangle isdisplayed in the display portion Ia in the icon I1 for the icon Icorresponding to the image capturing order information (see FIG. 14,etc.) of the capturing order ID “001” which uses the bucky device 51 forimage capturing in a lying position. A vertically long rectangle isdisplayed in the display portion Ia of the icon I for the icons I2 andI3 corresponding to each piece of image capturing order information ofthe capturing order ID “002” and “003” which use the bucky device 51 forimage capturing in a standing position. A figure in a shape of aperspective view of the radiation image capturing device 1 is displayedin the display portion Ia of the icon I for the icon I4 corresponding tothe image capturing order information of the capturing order ID “004”which does not use the bucky device 51.

When the use of the bucky device 51 for image capturing in a standingposition or image capturing in a lying position or use of the radiationimage capturing device 1 in a state by itself is displayed in thedisplay portion Ia of the icon I, instead of a rectangle or a figure ina perspective view as described above, it is possible to employ suitablemeasures such as display which is easy for the radiation technologist tounderstand.

In the present embodiment, when the icons I1 to I4 are displayed, theconsole 58 refers to the bucky ID corresponded to the cassette ID storedin the storage unit 59 and in the display portion Ib of the icon I ofthe image capturing order information using the bucky device 51, theconsole 58 displays the cassette ID of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 loaded into the bucky device 51 at present and the size,resolution, etc. of the radiation image capturing device 1 as shown inFIG. 15.

In order to change the setting to use the bucky device 51 different fromthe bucky device 51 set in each icon I1 to I4 or it is desired toperform image capturing in a state of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 by itself without the bucky device 51 (or vice versa), forexample, it is possible to move the cursor on the screen H2 to thedisplay portion Ia showing “standing position” or “lying position” inthe icon I and to click the right mouse button to display a pop-upwindow, so that it is possible to select and change the item to thebucky device 51 described in the window or to not use the bucky device51.

In order to change the radiation image capturing device 1 set in eachicon I1 to I4, for example, it is possible to move the cursor on thescreen H2 to the display portion Ib in the icon I and to click the rightmouse button to display a selection screen H3 as shown in FIG. 16, sothat it is possible to suitably select and change to the radiation imagecapturing device 1 after change from each icon group showing variousradiation image capturing devices 1.

In order to change any of the radiation image capturing devices 1 set ineach icon I1 to I4 to the CR cassette, for example, similar operationcan be performed to display the selection screen H3 as shown in FIG. 16and to click the icon displaying “CR” to change the setting.

Such format can be employed without providing a CR cassetteidentification information reading unit (barcode reader) in each buckydevice 51 and is desirable. The operator such as the radiationtechnologist, etc. can change the desired image capturing orderinformation from the radiation image capturing device format (FPDformat) to the CR format in the front room Rb where the console 58 isprovided. When the identification information of the CR cassette isinput using the CR cassette identification information reading unit(barcode reader) provided in the console 58 in a state where the desiredimage capturing order information is selected, the setting can bechanged automatically from the FPD format to the CR format.

When the reading device of the CR cassette is connected to the console58 in a relation of 1:1, since the read image data is transmitted to theconsole 58 for each cassette loading, it is possible to only perform theswitching operation to the CR on the selection screen H3 and to notperform the input of CR cassette identification information.

When the operation to change from the FPD to the CR is performed on theconsole 58 of the front room Rb, but the radiation image capturingdevice 1 is used in the actual image capturing accidentally, since theradiation emission synchronization signal is not transmitted from theconsole 58 to the radiation image capturing device 1, the radiationimage capturing device 1 basically does not perform reading operation.However, when the radiation image capturing device 1 itself includes aradiation emission detecting unit, the reading operation is performed.

In this case, the emission amount is the setting for CR, therefore theamount becomes an excess amount as a whole. However, different fromanalog film, the image may be recovered by image processing. Therefore,in the above case, it is preferable that the image data transmitted fromthe radiation image capturing device 1 can be temporarily stored withoutcorresponding to the image capturing order information on the console58. Then, the gradation processing condition is corrected and when it isdetermined that the image can be provided for diagnosis, the image dataon which image processing is performed again can be corresponded withthe image capturing order information. If the image cannot be used fordiagnosis even when image processing is performed, the mode is set torecapturing mode.

When setting of the bucky device 51 used is changed, the setting ischanged so as to use or to not use the bucky device 51, the setting ofthe radiation image capturing device 1 is changed, or the setting ischanged from the radiation image capturing device 1 to the CR cassette,the display of the changed icons I1 to I4 is changed to the changedcontent.

When the above change is performed, and for example, the operatorattempts to perform image capturing without using the changed buckydevice 51, the radiation image capturing device 1 or the CR cassette, itis possible to emit a warning by audio, etc. so that suitable measuresare taken to use the suitable device or to perform image capturing undersuitable conditions.

A gauge G showing the degree of progress of the processing displayedbelow each icon I1 to I4 shown in FIG. 15 is described later.

Next, the method of display in each icon I1 to I4 in the display unit 58a of the console 58 of the above configuration is described in detail.The operation of the radiation image capturing system 50 of the presentembodiment is also described.

The present embodiment describes the simplest example which is to bringin only one portable radiation image capturing device 1 into the imagecapturing room Ra. Therefore, in the description of the presentembodiment below, there is only one portable radiation image capturingdevice 1 in the image capturing room Ra.

In the example described below, the radiation image capturing device 1is already loaded into the bucky device 51A for image capturing in astanding position. Therefore, in this case, each icon I1 to I4 as shownin FIG. 17 is displayed on the screen H2 of the console 58.

Therefore, in this case, even if the right mouse button is clicked inthe display portion Ib of the “FPD” in the icon I, only the radiationimage capturing device 1 of the “FPD-001” is displayed on the selectionscreen H3 shown in FIG. 16.

In the present invention, the console 58 automatically selects one iconI among each icon I1 to I4 corresponding to each image capturing orderinformation displayed on the display unit 58 a and displays the selectedicon I in a manner different from the other icons I.

Below, displaying an icon in a manner different from other icons issimply described as focusing to the icon I. When the focused icon I isillustrated, diagonal lines are added to the icon I.

As a method of focusing the icon I, for example, the icon I is basicallydisplayed colored in a color similar to the base color of the screen H2such as blue or black, whereas when the icon I is displayed focused,only the icon I may be displayed colored in red, yellow or the like. Thefocused icon I can also be displayed in a shape different from othericons I, the focused icon I can blink, the position of displaying thefocused icon I on the screen H2 can be changed, the focused icon I canbe displayed zoomed, and the like.

In the present invention, when the console 58 selects the icon Iautomatically, the icon I is selected focused according to the standarddescribed below.

[Standard 1]

The icon I selected and focused is the icon I corresponding to the imagecapturing order information specifying the image capturing conditionwhere image capturing can be performed without changing the presentstate or the image capturing can be performed by keeping the change to aminimum. The states considered are, the mode of each radiation imagecapturing device 1, the state of loading into the bucky device 51, thestate of start and position of each radiation source 52, the positionand direction of the radiation source 52A (see FIG. 1) or the like.

Therefore, when the operator performs image capturing based on the imagecapturing order information corresponded to the icon I which the console58 focuses on, image capturing can be performed without loading theradiation image capturing device 1 into the bucky device 51, or withoutloading the radiation image capturing device 1 already loaded into abucky device 51 to another bucky device 51 or by performing only minimumoperation. Therefore, it is possible to achieve the effect of promptlyperforming image capturing.

Details of the standard 1 are suitably set according to theconfiguration of the radiation image capturing system 50 and theperformance of each device. When the radiation image capturing device 1and the radiation image capturing system 50 is configured as describedabove, for example, the relevant icon is automatically selectedaccording to the following detailed standard [1-1], [1-2].

[1-1] When the radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded into thebucky device 51, the icon I selected and displayed focused is the icon Icorresponding to the image capturing order information specifying imagecapturing in a state where the radiation image capturing device 1 isloaded into the bucky device 51.

[1-2] When the radiation image capturing device 1 is not loaded into thebucky device 51, the icon I selected and displayed focused is the icon Icorresponding to the image capturing order information specifying imagecapturing in a state where the radiation image capturing device 1 isused by itself without loading into the bucky device 51.

The above standard [1-1] applies in a case such as when the radiationimage capturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position, the radiation source 52A is facing thedirection of the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition. Moreover, even when the radiation source 52A is not facing thedirection of the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition, usually, instead of removing the radiation image capturingdevice 1 from the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition and loading the radiation image capturing device 1 on the buckydevice 51B for image capturing in a lying position, changing theemission direction of the radiation source 52A is a smaller degree ofchange and the burden of the operator can be reduced. Further, the startof image capturing is input on the console and the preparation of theradiation source is completed while actually moving to the imagecapturing room. Therefore, the image capturing can be finished soon.

With the above standard [1-2], when the image capturing is performedusing the radiation image capturing device 1 in a state by itselfwithout loading into the bucky device 51, the amount of operation by theoperator between image capturing performed four times on one patient canbe reduced (the operation of attaching and removing the radiation imagecapturing device 1 to and from the bucky device 51).

In a case of the above standard [1-2], even when the operator judges tofirst perform image capturing in which the radiation image capturingdevice 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51, the operator can select andfocus an icon I different from the icon I selected from the console 58according to the standard 3 described below.

[Standard 2]

When the radiation image capturing device 1 is not brought into theimage capturing room Ra, or it is not possible to judge which icon I tofocus according to the above standard (hereinafter such state isreferred to as default), the console 58 selects and focuses the icon Ifirst in order (the icon I1 displayed to the left in FIG. 15 and FIG.17) from the icons I in which image capturing is not yet performed amongthe icons I1 to I4 displayed and arranged in a predetermined order suchas in order of registration on the display unit 58 a.

[Standard 3]

The reason the console 58 automatically selects and focuses the icon Iis because the above effects can be achieved and it is to recommendselection of the icon I. This does not force the operator to performimage capturing based on the image capturing order informationcorresponding to the icon I which is selected and focused.

Therefore, when the operator desires to perform image capturing based onthe image capturing order information other than the image capturingorder information corresponding to the icon I which is focused, theoperator can click a different icon I corresponding to the imagecapturing order information of the image capturing which is to beperformed and select the icon I.

When the operator clicks and selects an icon I different from thefocused icon I, the icon I selected by the operator is focused and thefocus of the icon I automatically selected by the console 58 isreleased. Therefore, the icon I automatically selected by the console 58is displayed returned to the original manner of display not focusedsimilar to the other icons I.

When each icon I1 to I4 is displayed on the screen H2 as shown in FIG.17, since the radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded into thebucky device 51A for capturing in a standing position at present, theconsole 58 selects the icon I2 or the icon I3 according to the abovestandard 1. Then, considering only the icon I2 and the icon I3 since thestandard 2 is applied in a default state, the icon I2 is selected.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the icon I2 is selected, focused anddisplayed on the screen H2 of the display unit 58 a of the console 58.Usually, when the icon I is focused and displayed, the first icon I inthe order of display is focused. However, in the present invention, asshown in FIG. 18, regardless of the order of display, the icon I2corresponding to the image capturing order information specifying theimage capturing which can be performed fastest is focused.

When the selected icon I (icon I2 in FIG. 18) is focused and displayed,the console 58 immediately starts each device used in the imagecapturing to a predetermined state based on the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I. In other words, in the exampleshown in FIG. 18, if the radiation source 52A is not started, theradiation source 52A is started, and if the radiation source 52A is notin a state to be able to emit radiation to the bucky device 51A forimage capturing in a standing position, the radiation source 52A ismoved to a predetermined position and the emission direction is changed.

When the radiation image capturing device 1 is in the sleep mode, awaking signal (wake-up signal, etc.) is transmitted to the radiationimage capturing device 1 to perform processing as switching to the imagecapturing possible mode.

When each device is started as described above, the operator canpromptly perform image capturing after moving to the image capturingroom Ra without loading into the bucky device 51 the radiation imagecapturing device 1 which is not yet loaded into the bucky device 51,without loading the radiation image capturing device 1 loaded into thebucky device 51 to another bucky device 51, or by only performingminimum operation.

Therefore, the radiation image capturing system 50 is easy to use for anoperator such as a radiation technologist, etc. and it is possible toperform efficient radiation image capturing.

The operator such as the radiation technologist, etc. may not performthe above operation on the screen H2 of the display unit 58 a of theconsole 58 and for example, may bring in a new radiation image capturingdevice 1 into the image capturing room Ra, load the radiation imagecapturing device 1 into the cradle 55, notify to the console 58 that thenew radiation image capturing device 1 is brought in, and press theselection switch 38 of the radiation image capturing device 1, or loadthe new radiation image capturing device 1 into the bucky device 51 orbring in a CR cassette and load the CR cassette into the bucky device51.

In such case, since each cassette ID, barcode information, etc. istransmitted to the console 58, the console 58 can acknowledge the aboveoperation is performed. Then, when such operation is performed, it ispossible to judge that it is the intension of the operator to performimage capturing using the newly brought in radiation image capturingdevice 1 or the CR cassette.

According to the present embodiment, in this case, when the cassette ID,barcode information, etc. is transmitted, the console 58 stores andregisters the above in the storage unit 59, and switches the icon Ifocused on the screen H2 of the display unit 58 a and the display of theicon I according to the information of the newly transmitted cassetteID, barcode information, etc.

In other words, in the example shown in FIG. 18, when the operatorpresses the selection switch 38 of the radiation image capturing device1 newly brought into the image capturing room Ra, the console 58switches the focused icon I without operation by the operator on thedisplay unit 58 a from the icon I2 automatically selected and focused bythe console 58 to the icon I4 corresponding to the image capturing orderinformation specifying performing image capturing in a state where theradiation image capturing device 1 is used by itself without loadinginto the bucky device 51.

When the operator loads the new radiation image capturing device 1 intothe bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position, theconsole 58 switches the focused icon I from the icon I2 to the icon I1corresponding to the image capturing order information specifyingperforming image capturing in a state where the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51B for imagecapturing in a lying position.

When the operator loads the CR cassette into the bucky device 51B forimage capturing in a lying position, the console 58 switches the focusedicon I from the icon I2 to the icon I1 corresponding to the imagecapturing order information specifying performing image capturing usingthe bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position andswitches the display of the display portion Ib of “FPD” in the icon I1to display of barcode information, size, etc. of the CR cassette.

When the operator removes the radiation image capturing device 1 fromthe bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position andloads the CR cassette instead, the icon I which the console 58 focusesdoes not change from the icon I2. However, the display of the displayportion Ib of the “FPD” in the icon I2 is switched to the display of thebarcode information, size, etc. of the CR cassette.

When the focused icon I is switched as described above, thecorresponding image capturing order information is also switched, andwhen the display of the icon I is switched from the radiation imagecapturing device 1 to the CR cassette, the capturing condition needs tobe changed. Therefore, when the image capturing order information or thecapturing condition is switched, the console 58 switches the focusedicon I and the display of the icon I and simultaneously stops the startof each device already started and starts and controls each device usedin the image capturing to a predetermined state based on the capturingcondition after change.

As described above, in the radiation image capturing system 50 of thepresent embodiment, according to the intension of the operator such asthe radiation technologist, etc., the focused icon I and the display ofthe icon I is automatically switched and each device is automaticallystarted to a predetermined state. With this, the radiation imagecapturing system 50 is easy to use for the operator.

While the radiation source 52, the radiation image capturing device 1etc., are started based on the changed capturing condition when theimage capturing order information corresponding to the focused icon I(including the icon I focused after change) is switched or the radiationimage capturing device 1 is switched to the CR cassette, for example,the operator such as the radiation technologist, etc., can guide thepatient into the capturing room Ra and allow the patient to take apredetermined posture in a predetermined position.

Then, the operator moves to the front room Rb and by operating theexposure switch 56 when the image capturing can be performed, radiationis emitted from the radiation source 52 to perform the radiation imagecapturing.

When the radiation image capturing is performed, as described above, thecontrol unit 22 of the radiation image capturing device 1 reads theimage data D from each radiation detecting element 7 and stores theimage data D in the storage unit 23. In the present embodiment, based oneach piece of image data D read from each radiation detecting element 7,the control unit 22 thins out each piece of image data D at apredetermined percentage and automatically creates the thinned out dataDt for preview. The control unit 22 transmits the thinned out data Dtwith the cassette ID attached through the antenna device 41 and thebucky device 51 to the console 58.

In the present embodiment, after the thinned out data Dt is transmittedto the console 58, the control unit 22 attaches the cassette ID to theimage data D which is the basis of creating the thinned out data Dt andautomatically transmits the above to the console 58. As described above,it is possible to transmit the image data D without creating the thinnedout data Dt and it is possible to transmit the image data D when thereis an instruction to transmit the image data D from the console 58, etc.

The control unit 22 calculates the offset correction value O based onthe dark reading value d read in the dark reading processing performedat a predetermined timing, attaches the cassette ID to the calculatedoffset correction value O and automatically transmits the above to theconsole 58.

When the radiation image capturing is performed using the CR cassette,after image capturing, the operator, etc., moves the CR cassette to thereading device outside the image capturing room Ra and performs thereading processing of the image data D. Then, the image data D istransmitted with the barcode information of the CR cassette from thereading device to the console 58.

When the thinned out data Dt, etc. is transmitted from the radiationimage capturing device 1 or when the image data D captured by the CRcassette is transmitted from the reading device, the console 58 createsthe preview image based on the transmitted thinned out data Dt or theimage data D.

Then, as shown in FIG. 19, the console 58 displays the created previewimage p_pre instead of the icon I2 in a position where the icon I2displayed focused was displayed on the screen H2 of the display unit 58a. With the preview image p_pre, it is possible to confirm whether theposition of the patient at the time of image capturing is good or badand it is possible to start preparation of recapturing according tonecessity.

The console 58 displays the preview image p_pre and also displays withcolor the first area (in the present embodiment, far left gauge) of thegauge G showing the degree of progress of the string of image processingfor the image provided in diagnosis such as gradation processing on theimage data D (in other words, raw data) displayed below the previewimage p_pre (previously icon I2).

Then, based on the image data D and the offset correction value Otransmitted from the radiation image capturing device 1, the console 58performs various image processing such as offset correction, gaincorrection, logarithmic conversion processing, etc. on the image data Dand generates the final radiation image p for diagnosis on which imageprocessing is performed.

In this case, although illustration is omitted, in the presentembodiment, as the degree of progress of the image processing on theimage data D advances, the image on which image processing is inprogress is suitably displayed in the position where the preview imagep_pre was displayed on the screen H2 and the second area (in the presentembodiment, center gauge) of the gauge G showing the degree of progressof processing is displayed with color to show that the image processingis being performed.

When the third area (in the present embodiment, far right gauge) of thegauge G is colored, the preview image p_pre is overwritten and displayedby the radiation image p. The radiation technologist, etc. acknowledgesthat the image is overwritten by the radiation image p by the third areabeing colored, and confirms whether the contrast is suitable, in otherwords, whether the emitted radiation is suitable based on the image pand performs preparation of recapturing according to necessity.Modification of the gauge G showing the degree of progress of theprocessing is possible such as showing the change in the length of thebar and it is also possible to not display the gauge G.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the buttons “OK” and“NG” are displayed below the preview image p_pre or the radiation imagep. The operator clicks the “OK” button when the image capturing isnormal and recapturing is not necessary and clicks the “NG” button whenthe image capturing is not normal and recapturing needs to be performed.The confirmation from the operator is obtained as described above.

When the operator views the preview image p_pre and the radiation imagep and judges that recapturing is not necessary and clicks the “OK”button, the console 58 displays a different icon I focused. Thisprocessing is described later.

When the operator views the preview image p_pre and the radiation imagep and judges that recapturing is necessary and clicks the “NG” button,the console 58 returns the display of the preview image p_pre and theradiation image p to the display of the original icon I2 and cancels thedisplay of the “OK” button and the “NG” button on the screen H2 or doesnot allow the “OK” button and the “NG” button to be clicked. The displayof the gauge G is also returned to the original form.

Then, the transmitted thinned out data Dt and the image data D isdeleted and the radiation image capturing device 1 is instructed todelete the image data D, etc. obtained in the radiation image capturingand stored in the storage unit 23. The image data D, etc. obtained inthe radiation image capturing is not necessary.

When the operator clicks the “OK” button, the console 58 does not returnthe display of the preview image p_pre or the radiation image p to thedisplay of the original icon I2 and maintains the display of the previewimage p_pre and the radiation image p, and cancels the display of the“OK” button and the “NG” button from the screen H2 or does not allow the“OK” button and the “NG” button to be clicked.

Then, the console 58 does not allow the icon I2 to be selected againeven when the operator moves and clicks the cursor on the preview imagep_pre or the radiation image p, similar to when the icon I is selected.

This is because there is no need to select again image capturing that isalready performed normally (in other words, image capturing judged thatrecapturing is not necessary) and it is possible to prevent trouble suchas image data D, etc. already obtained being deleted by selecting theimage capturing performed normally again. When for some reason there isa necessity to perform radiation image capturing again based on theimage capturing order information, and in case the image data D, etc.already obtained needs to be deleted, it is possible to delete the imagedata D, etc. already obtained for the image capturing order informationby performing special operation and in this case suitable method ofoperation is set.

Then, when the final radiation image p is generated, as shown in FIG.20, the generated radiation image p is displayed in the position wherethe image while the image processing is in progress is displayed on thescreen H2 (in other words, the position where the preview image p_pre isdisplayed) and the third area (in the present embodiment, right gauge)of the gauge G showing the degree of progress of the processing isdisplayed with color and shows that each processing to the generatingprocessing of the radiation image p is complete.

The console 58 stores the generated radiation image p corresponded withthe image capturing order information corresponding with the originalicon I2 in the storage unit 59. The image data D before image processing(in other words, raw data) can be stored in the storage unit 59corresponded to the image capturing order information.

As described above, the radiation image capturing system 50 of thepresent embodiment focuses the icon I selected by the console 58 oraccurately focuses the icon I selected by the operator such as theradiation technologist, etc. Alternatively, the focused icon I and thedisplay of the icon I is accurately switched according to the intensionof the operator.

Then, the radiation image capturing is performed based on the imagecapturing order information corresponding to the icon I displayedfocused or based on the image capturing order information in whichinformation such as the bucky device 51 or the radiation image capturingdevice 1, etc. to be used is changed from the above image capturingorder information. The bucky device 51, etc. specified in the imagecapturing order information can be changed, however, at least thecapturing order ID (see FIG. 13 and FIG. 14) cannot be changed.

Then, the image data D transmitted from the radiation image capturingdevice 1 or the reading device which reads the image data D from the CRcassette is corresponded with the image capturing order informationcorresponding to the icon I displayed focused. Therefore, the image dataD obtained by the image capturing based on the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I displayed focused can beautomatically and accurately corresponded to the image capturing orderinformation.

Therefore, it is possible to accurately prevent the image data Dobtained in the image capturing based on the image capturing orderinformation being corresponded to different image capturing orderinformation. From the above point also, the radiation image capturingsystem 50 is easy to use for the operator and efficient radiation imagecapturing can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 19, the “OK” button and the “NG” button are displayedbelow the preview image p_pre and when the operator clicks the “OK”button as the recapturing being not necessary, the processing of thepreview image p_pre is performed as described above.

The console 58 then selects and focuses the next icon I according to theabove standards.

Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 19, since the radiation imagecapturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position, as shown in FIG. 21, according to theabove standard 1, the console 58 selects and focuses the icon I3corresponding to the image capturing order information in which there isno need to change the loading state of the radiation image capturingdevice 1 on the bucky device 51 and the image capturing can be performedwithout changing the starting state, the position, the direction, etc.of each radiation source 52A from the present state.

As described above, in the radiation image capturing system 50 of thepresent embodiment, instead of the icon I1 of the default state, theautomatically selected and focused icon I2 corresponds to the imagecapturing order information which specifies the capturing conditionswhere image capturing can be performed without changing the presentstate of the mode of each radiation image capturing device 1, theloading state of the radiation image capturing device 1 on the buckydevice 51, the starting state of each radiation source 52, the positionand direction of the radiation source 52A, and the like.

In this case, the image capturing based on the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I2 has just been performed and theradiation image capturing device 1 is in the image capturing possiblemode. Therefore, it is not necessary to transmit a waking signal fromthe console 58 to the radiation image capturing device 1. Moreover, theradiation source 52A is started and is in a state where it is possibleto emit radiation to the bucky device 51 for image capturing in astanding position. However, when the amount of emitted radiation ischanged, the tube voltage is changed to emit the amount.

Then, when the radiation image capturing is performed, the thinned outdata Dt, etc. is transmitted from the radiation image capturing device 1to the console 58. Similar to the above, based on the transmittedthinned out data Dt, etc. the console 58 creates and displays thepreview image p_pre and generates and displays the radiation image p.

The console 58 displays the preview image p_pre in the original positionof the icon I3 and when the “OK” button is clicked, then, the next iconI is selected and focused according to the above standards.

In this case, the icons I which can be selected are icon I1 and icon I4.According to the above standard 1, the console 58 selects and focusesthe icon I1. The reason for such selection is described below.

In other words, when the image capturing is performed based on the imagecapturing order information corresponding to the icon I4, the start ofthe radiation source 52A needs to be stopped and the portable radiationsource 52B needs to be started. However, when the image capturing isperformed based on the image capturing order information correspondingto the icon I1, only the position and the emission direction of theradiation source 52A already started need to be changed.

In the above case, when the icon I3 is selected, the next imagecapturing can be performed with the minimum change from the presentstate such as the loading state of each radiation image capturing device1 on the bucky device 51, the starting state of each radiation source52, the position and direction of the radiation source 52A and the like.

Therefore, when the image capturing is performed based on the imagecapturing order information corresponding to the icon I1 focused by theconsole 58, since the operator only needs to move the radiation imagecapturing device 1 from the bucky device 51A for image capturing in astanding position to the bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lyingposition. Therefore, the image capturing can be performed by onlyperforming the minimum operation and the image capturing can beperformed promptly. Therefore, the radiation image capturing system 50is easy to use for the operator and the radiation image capturing can beperformed efficiently.

As described above, even if the console 58 selects and focuses the iconI1, the operator can click the icon I4 to change the icon I displayedfocused to the icon I4 when the operator judges to first perform imagecapturing based on the image capturing order information correspondingto the icon I4, in other words, to first perform image capturing byplacing the radiation image capturing device 1 against the body of thepatient or by inserting the radiation image capturing device 1 betweenthe body of the patient and the bed.

The above example describes the simplest case where only one radiationimage capturing device 1 is brought into the image capturing room Ra,and the radiation image capturing device 1 is already loaded into thebucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position. A casewhere a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 are broughtinto the image capturing Ra in advance is described in the secondembodiment.

When the only radiation image capturing device 1 in the image capturingroom Ra is already loaded into the bucky device 51B for image capturingin a lying position, although illustration is omitted, on the screen H2of the display unit 58 a of the console 58, the console 58 displays withfocus the icon I1 corresponding to the image capturing order informationspecifying the image capturing using the bucky device 51B for imagecapturing in a lying position.

When the only radiation image capturing device 1 in the image capturingroom Ra is left in a state inserted in the cradle 55, or the radiationimage capturing device 1 is pulled out of the cradle 55 but is notloaded into the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition and the bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lyingposition on the screen H2 of the display unit 58 a of the console 58,the console 58 displays with focus the icon I4 corresponding to theimage capturing order information which specifies image capturing usingthe radiation image capturing device 1 by itself without loading intothe bucky device 51.

Then, the console 58 automatically performs processing such as startingthe radiation source 52 according to the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I automatically selected by theconsole 58. When each device is started, as described above, theoperator can promptly perform image capturing because image capturingcan be performed without loading into the bucky device 51 the radiationimage capturing device 1 which is not loaded into the bucky device 51,or without loading the radiation image capturing device 1 loaded intothe bucky device 51 on another bucky device 51 or by performing onlyminimum operation.

The preview image p_pre and the radiation image p based on the thinnedout data Dt, the image data D etc. obtained by performing imagecapturing are automatically displayed in the position of the icon Idisplayed focused and are automatically stored corresponded with theimage capturing order information corresponding to the icon I displayedfocused.

Therefore, in the above case, the radiation image capturing system 50 iseasy to use for an operator such as the radiation technologist, etc. andefficient radiation image capturing is possible.

In the above case, when the operator such as the radiation technologist,etc. desires to perform image capturing based on the image capturingorder information different from the image capturing order informationcorresponding to the icon I selected and focused by the console 58, theoperator can click the different icon I or the operator can load theradiation image capturing device 1 in the capturing room Ra into thedesired bucky device 51 so that the operator can suitably switch theicon I displayed focused to the icon I corresponding to the imagecapturing order information specifying the image capturing which theoperator desires to perform.

Then, the console 58 automatically performs the processing such as startof the radiation source 52 according to the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I which the operator switched to.Then, the preview image p_pre and the radiation image p based on thethinned out data Dt and the image data D, etc. obtained by the imagecapturing are automatically displayed in the position of the icon Idisplayed focused and are automatically stored corresponded with theimage capturing order information corresponding to the icon I displayedfocused.

Therefore, it is possible to switch the focused icon I according to theintension of the operator such as the radiation technologist. The imagedata D, etc. is stored accurately corresponded with the image capturingorder information corresponding to the switched icon I. From this pointalso, the radiation image capturing system 50 is easy to use for theoperator.

According to the radiation image capturing system 50 of the presentembodiment, according to at least the standard 1, when the radiationimage capturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device 51, regardlessof the order of display of the icon I corresponding to each piece ofimage capturing order information displayed on the display unit 58 a,the console 58 displays with focus the icon I corresponding to the imagecapturing order information specifying image capturing in a state wherethe radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded into the bucky device51.

When the radiation image capturing device 1 is not loaded into the buckydevice 51, the console 58 displays with focus the icon I4 correspondingto the image capturing order information specifying the image capturingperformed in a state where the radiation image capturing device 1 is notloaded into the bucky device 51.

Therefore, if the operator such as the radiation technologist, etc.performs image capturing based on the image capturing order informationcorresponding to the icon I which the console 58 displays with focus,the image capturing can be performed at least without changing theloading state of the radiation image capturing device 1 on the buckydevice 51. Therefore, the radiation image capturing system 50 of thepresent embodiment is easy to use for the operator. Moreover, theradiation image capturing can be performed efficiently.

The console automatically determines the order of the image capturing inthe most efficient order. However, after the image capturing iscomplete, when the image data is externally output, the output can bemade in the original order in the image capturing order information.Therefore, there is no confusion in the order of display of the image onthe external PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) system.

Second Embodiment

As described above, the first embodiment describes the simplest casewhere only one radiation image capturing device 1 is brought into theimage capturing room Ra. The second embodiment describes bringing in aplurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 in the image capturingroom Ra in advance.

As described in the first embodiment, at the start of image capturing,only one radiation image capturing device 1 is brought into the imagecapturing room Ra. However, in many cases as the image capturingprogresses, a new radiation image capturing device 1 is brought into theimage capturing room Ra and a plurality of radiation image capturingdevices 1 exist in the image capturing room Ra.

Therefore, in the above standard 1, in addition to the detailedstandards [1-1] and [1-2], detailed standards need to be finely setconsidering a case where there are a plurality of radiation imagecapturing devices 1 in the image capturing room Ra. When there are aplurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 in the image capturingroom Ra in advance, when a new radiation image capturing device 1 isbrought into the image capturing room Ra, the above standard 3 isapplied.

When there are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 in theimage capturing room Ra in advance, the above detailed standards [1-1]and [1-2] of the standard 1 are applied. Other than the above, whenthere are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 in theimage capturing room Ra in advance, the following detailed standard isset.

In the present embodiment, the detailed standard is applied with ahigher priority than the detailed standards [1-1] and [1-2] of thestandard 1, the detailed standard is [1-0].

[1-0] When there are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1in the image capturing room Ra, and the starting state are the same, theconsole 58 selects and displays with focus the icon I corresponding tothe image capturing order information where image capturing can beperformed without changing the present starting state of the radiationsource 52 (in other words started or not) and the present emissiondirection of the radiation source 52, or the icon I corresponding to theimage capturing order information where the degree of change of thestarting state or the emission direction is minimum.

Therefore, when there are a plurality of radiation image capturingdevices 1 in the image capturing room Ra and for example, as shown inFIG. 22, the radiation image capturing devices 1 are already loaded intoeach bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position andbucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position, the console 58first obtains information of the present starting state and theinformation of the emission direction of the radiation source from theradiation sources 52A and 52B.

Then, for example, when the radiation source 52A is already started, andthe radiation source 52A is facing the direction of the bucky device 51Bfor image capturing in a lying position or the bucky device 51A forimage capturing in a standing position, the icon displayed focused isthe icon I1 or the icon I2 corresponding to the image capturing orderinformation which can perform image capturing without changing theemission direction of the started radiation source 52A.

For example, when the radiation source 52A is not started but theradiation source 52A is facing the direction of the bucky device 51B forimage capturing in a lying position or the bucky device 51A for imagecapturing in a standing position, the icon displayed focused is the iconI1 or the icon I2 corresponding to the image capturing order informationwhich can perform image capturing by simply starting the radiationsource 52A.

For example, when the radiation source 52A is not facing the directionof the bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position or thebucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position, but theradiation source 52A is started and the portable radiation source 52B isnot started, the icon displayed focused is the icon I1 or the icon I2corresponding to the image capturing order information which can performimage capturing by only changing the emission direction of the radiationsource 52A. In this case, when the standard 2 of the default case isapplied, the icon I1 is displayed focused. However, if another standardis set in the detailed standard of standard 1, the icon I2 may bedisplayed focused.

For example, when the radiation source 52A is not started and theportable radiation source 52B is started, the icon displayed focused isthe icon I4 corresponding to the image capturing order information whichcan perform image capturing by only setting the emission direction ofthe radiation source 52B.

When there are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 in theimage capturing room Ra in advance and when the starting state is thesame, for example the icon I displayed focused is the icon Icorresponding to the image capturing order information which can performimage capturing without changing the present starting state of theradiation source 52 and the present emission direction of the radiationsource 52, or the icon I corresponding to the image capturing orderinformation in which degree of change of the starting state and theemission direction is minimum.

In the present case, it is possible to select which icon I is displayedfocused based on only the present starting state of the radiation source52 or only the present emission direction of the radiation source 52.

As described above, when the radiation source 52A is not facing thedirection of the bucky device 51B for image capturing in a lyingposition and the bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standingposition but the radiation source 52A is started and the portableradiation source 52B is not started, it is possible to perform imagecapturing based on the image capturing order information correspondingto either the icon I1 and the icon I2 by only changing the emissiondirection of the radiation source 52.

As described above, when there are a plurality of pieces of imagecapturing order information which can perform image capturing, forexample, as shown in FIG. 23, the plurality of icons I1 and I2 eachcorresponding to the plurality of pieces of image capturing orderinformation can be each displayed focused, and the display of “pleaseselect icon” etc. can be displayed at the bottom of the screen H2 tonotify that an icon I can be selected from the plurality of icons I1 andI2.

Then, when the operator selects and clicks any one of the icons I1 andI2, then, only the icon I clicked and selected is displayed focused.

With such configuration, image capturing can be performed according tothe intension of the operator and the radiation image capturing system50 is easy to use for the operator.

As described in the first embodiment, the radiation image capturingdevice 1 can be switched between the modes of the image capturingpossible mode and the sleep mode. When the console 58 is able to managethe mode of each radiation image capturing device 1 and is able tomanage which radiation image capturing device 1 among the plurality ofradiation image capturing devices 1 can perform image capturing (inother words, the image capturing possible mode), it is possible to applythe above standards 1 to 3 and the detailed standards [1-0] to [1-2] ofthe standard 1 to the radiation image capturing device 1 which is astate to be able to perform image processing.

Specifically, when the radiation image capturing device 1 is loaded intothe bucky device 51, the power source is supplied from the bucky device51, therefore it is possible to use the radiation image capturing device1 without considering the life of the included battery 24. Therefore,the inner reading circuit 17, etc. operates stably and reset can beperformed periodically according to necessity. Therefore, imagecapturing can be performed immediately.

With such configuration, the radiation image capturing device 1 alreadyin the image capturing possible mode can be used to perform imagecapturing without switching to the image capturing possible mode of theradiation image capturing device 1 and waiting for the reset processing,etc. of each radiation detecting element 7 to be completed in theradiation image capturing device 1.

Therefore, it is possible to perform image capturing promptly because itis possible to perform image capturing without switching the mode ofeach radiation image capturing device 1, without changing the loadingstate of the radiation image capturing device 1 on the bucky device 51,without changing the starting state, emission direction, etc. of eachradiation source 52 or in a state where the degree of change is minimum.Therefore, the radiation image capturing system 50 is easy to use forthe operator such as the radiation technologist, etc. and it is possibleto perform efficient radiation image capturing.

When there are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1 whichcan perform image capturing and there are a plurality of pieces of imagecapturing order information which can perform image capturing, forexample, as shown in FIG. 23, it is possible to display with focus theplurality of icons I corresponding to the plurality of pieces of imagecapturing order information and to notify that an icon I among theplurality of icons I can be selected.

Then, with such configuration, it is possible to perform image capturingaccording to the intension of the operator and the radiation imagecapturing system 50 is easy to use for the operator.

As described in the first embodiment, when at first only one radiationimage capturing device 1 is brought into the image capturing room Ra andthe operator such as the radiation technologist, etc. brings a new anddifferent radiation image capturing device 1 into the image capturingroom Ra, the icon I displayed focused can be automatically switched tothe icon I corresponding to the image capturing order informationspecifying image capturing using the radiation image capturing device 1newly brought in or after the state where there are a plurality ofradiation image capturing devices 1, when the selection switch 38 of anyof the radiation image capturing devices 1 is operated, the icon Idisplayed focused can be switched to the icon I which can use theradiation image capturing device 1.

However, when the image capturing based on the image capturing orderinformation corresponding to the icon I switched and focused isfinished, there are a plurality of radiation image capturing devices 1in the image capturing room Ra. Therefore, in the later image capturing,the configuration described in the first embodiment can be applied, orthe focused icon I can be switched to the icon I newly selected by theoperator according to the standard 3, or when any one of the pluralityof radiation image capturing devices 1 is operated with the selectionswitch 38 by the operator, the focused icon I can be switched to theradiation image capturing device 1 which can be used.

Third Embodiment

The above first and second embodiment describes performing imagecapturing using the portable radiation image capturing device 1 usedloaded into the bucky device 51 or the radiation image capturing device1 used by itself without loading into the bucky device 51.

The third embodiment describes providing a dedicated device for imagecapturing in a standing position and a dedicated device for imagecapturing in a lying position in the image capturing room Ra instead ofthe bucky device 51A for image capturing in a standing position and thebucky device 51B for image capturing in a lying position.

In this case also, the present invention is applied when only thededicated device for image capturing in a standing position or only thededicated device for image capturing in a lying position is provided inthe image capturing room Ra. In this case, the portable radiation imagecapturing device 1 is used to perform image capturing in a state byitself.

In the third embodiment, the dedicated device for image capturing in astanding position is in a similar state as the portable radiation imagecapturing device 1 loaded into the bucky device 51A for image capturingin a standing position shown in the second embodiment, and the dedicateddevice for image capturing in a lying position is in a similar state asthe portable radiation image capturing device 1 loaded into the buckydevice 51B for image capturing in a lying position. Therefore, theconfiguration of control of the radiation image capturing system 50 issimilar to the configuration described in the second embodiment.

When image capturing is performed a plurality of times on the same dayusing the dedicated device for image capturing in a standing positionand the dedicated device for image capturing in a lying position,usually, after the power of each dedicated device is turned on beforethe first image capturing is performed, the power remains on withoutturning the power on or off, so that it is possible to switch the modesof each dedicated device between the image capturing possible mode andthe sleep mode.

Therefore, in such case, it is possible to employ the configurationdescribed in the second embodiment in which the console 58 manages themode of each radiation image capturing device 1 (dedicated device) andto apply the above standards 1 to 3 and the detailed standards [1-0] to[1-2] of the standard 1 on the radiation image capturing device 1(dedicated device) which can perform image capturing.

The third embodiment can also achieve the same outstanding effects asdescribed in the second embodiment.

The first and second embodiments describe providing a bucky device 51 inthe image capturing room Ra and the third embodiment describes providinga dedicated device in the image capturing room Ra. However, the presentinvention can be applied to a situation where the bucky device 51 andthe dedicated device both exist in the image capturing room Ra.

The bucky device 51 and the dedicated device of the above embodimentsinclude other types of radiation image capturing devices such as aradiation image capturing device which can perform image capturing in along length where an image is captured in a wide range of the body ofthe patient while changing the position of the radiation image capturingdevice in the height direction of the patient or a mammography devicewhich can capture images of the breast of the patient. In this case alsothe present invention can be applied.

The above embodiments describe the image capturing room Ra correspondedone to one with the console 58. Alternatively, as described in the laterdescribed FIG. 26 and FIG. 27, it is possible to apply the aboveconfiguration of the embodiments when a plurality of image capturingrooms Ra are connected with one or a plurality of consoles 58 (describedas console C in FIG. 26 and FIG. 27) through a network, etc.

[Transmission of Generated Radiation Image (Medical Image) to ExternalDevices]

Lately, a technology of PACS (Picture Archiving and CommunicationSystem) is developed, where the radiation image of the patient iscaptured using the radiation image capturing device as described aboveand transmitting and receiving the image data of the radiation imagebetween devices and systems through a network.

In order to perform image examination to judge whether accurate imageprocessing needs to be performed on the captured radiation image, thegenerated radiation image can be transmitted to a QA (Quality Assurance)station.

Below, the above are collectively referred to as a medial image system.Below, the generated radiation image is used for medical diagnosis andcalled medical image. In the above described PACS, QA station, etc., thetransmitted medical image is interpreted to perform diagnosis andexamination, and the above is collectively called the interpretationsystem.

In other words, the medical image system at least includes the radiationimage capturing system as described above for capturing the medicalimage using the radiation image capturing device and the interpretationsystem for interpreting the medical image.

In such medical image system, the medical image is usually managed basedon the image capturing order information (for example, see FIG. 13 andFIG. 14) as described above. The image capturing order information setsinformation, instructions, etc. regarding the radiation image capturingperformed in the image capturing room determined based on inquiry to thepatient, etc. and the items specified and registered may be, forexample, patient information such as patient ID, etc., image capturingcondition such as the portion of the body of the patient to be captured(in other words, capturing portion), device information specifyingcapturing direction, device to be used, etc.

With the console of the radiation image capturing system, the radiationimage capturing device, the radiation generating device, etc. arecontrolled based on each piece of image capturing order informationselected by the operator such as the radiation technologist, etc.

The conventional system as described in patent document 5 provides aconfiguration where each piece of image capturing order informationregarding the patient who comes is displayed as a switch in a list onthe display unit of the console, and the operator can select each imagecapturing order information freely from the switch of each piece ofimage capturing order information displayed in a list in an order sothat it is easy to perform image capturing.

In the system described in patent document 5, the medical image capturedbased on each piece of image capturing order information is transmittedto the interpretation system side in the order requested by the doctor,etc. who performs interpretation.

However, in such conventional medical image system, the doctor oftenneeds to request or specify the order of transmission of the medicalimages each time and there are doctors who dislike being requestedspecification of order of transmission of the medical images. However,when the medical images are not transmitted in the order that thedoctor, etc. desires to interpret, the doctor, etc. needs to rearrangethe order of the medical image each time, and the medical image systembecomes difficult to use for the doctor, etc.

In view of the above points, described below is a radiation imagecapturing system which includes a console which is able to transmit themedical image in the order the doctor, etc. desires to interpret fromthe radiation image capturing system side to the interpretation systemside without the doctor, etc. specifying the order of transmission ofthe medical image and a medical image system which includes theradiation image capturing system and the interpretation system.

Below, an embodiment of the medical image system is described withreference to the drawings. The invention described below is not limitedto the illustrated examples.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of a medical imagesystem 100. The medical image system 100 at least includes a radiationimage capturing system 101 which includes a console C and emitsradiation to the patient to perform radiation image capturing and aninterpretation system 102 which includes an interpretation imagemanagement device S and an image display device A for interpreting themedical image transmitted from the console C to perform diagnosis,examination, etc. The radiation image capturing system 101 and theinterpretation system 102 are connected through a network such as a LAN(Local Area Network), etc.

Specifically, the interpretation system 102 is assumed to be the abovedescribed PACS, QA station, etc. The radiation image capturing system101 and the console C are basically similar to the above describedradiation image capturing system 50 (see FIG. 1) and the console 58.However, in the present invention, as described in FIG. 26 and FIG. 27,the image capturing room Ra and the console are not necessarilycorresponded one to one. Therefore, the above is referred to as theradiation image capturing system 101 and the console C.

A HIS (Hospital Information System) 103 and a RIS (Radiology InformationSystem) 104 are connected to the medical image system 100 through thenetwork. In addition, although illustration is omitted, other computersand external devices such as an imager which records the medical imageon an image recording medium such as film, etc. to output the image areconnected.

As shown in FIG. 25, in the present embodiment, the radiation imagecapturing system 101 is structured in an image capturing room Raincluding a front room (also called operation room, etc.) Rb.

The radiation image capturing device 1, and the devices, etc. providedin the image capturing room Ra and the front room Rb are similar to theabove embodiments, and therefore description is omitted.

The present embodiment describes the simplest example where theradiation image capturing system 101 is structured in the imagecapturing room Ra corresponded to one console C as described in FIG. 25.However, the present invention can be applied to a configuration where aplurality of image capturing rooms Ra (Ra1 to Ra4) are connected in apredetermined connection with the plurality of consoles C (C1 to C3) asshown in FIG. 26, or a plurality of image capturing rooms Ra (Ra1 toRa4) are connected to each plurality of consoles C (C1 to C3) through anetwork N.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 26 and FIG. 27, a management device C*such as a server can be provided connected with each console C through anetwork N, etc. or instead of providing the management device C*, anyone of the console C can be used as a substitute of the managementdevice C*. In this case, the management device C* or the console Csubstituting the management device C* performs later describedprocessing where the information transmitted from the interpretationimage management device S of the interpretation system 102 is receivedand the order of transmission is modified, etc.

Further, obtaining image capturing order information with the console C,focus display of the icon I, display of the preview image p_pre,generating the radiation image p in other words the medical image p aresimilarly performed as in the above embodiments, and the description isomitted.

Next, the setting, modifying, etc. of the order of transmission of themedical images from the console C to the interpretation image managementdevice S of the interpretation system 102 is described together with theoperation of the radiation image capturing system 101 and the medicalsystem 100 (see FIG. 24) of the present embodiment. Below, the medicalimages obtained and generated corresponding to each icon I1 to I4 arereferred to as medical images p1 to p4.

For example, when all of the radiation image capturing corresponding toeach icon I1 to I4 on the screen H2 of the display unit Ca of theconsole C finishes, as described in FIG. 28, the corresponding medicalimages p1 to p4 are displayed in a position where each icon I1 to I4 isdisplayed.

The screen H2 shown in FIG. 28 is an example of a differentconfiguration of the screen H2 shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 23, andbasically operates the same as the operation of the screen H2 shown inFIG. 15 to FIG. 23.

On the screen H2 shown in FIG. 28, the “+” button and the “−” button ofeach item on the display Ia for setting an emission condition displayedon the right side of the screen H2 can be clicked to be able to changeand set the emission conditions such as tube voltage, tube current,emission time, etc. when emitting radiation from the radiation source 52(see FIG. 1 and FIG. 25) of the radiation generating device 57.

On the left side of the screen H2, the capturing portion specified inthe image capturing order information corresponding to the icon Idisplayed with focus is displayed in the human body model Ib shown sothat the operator is able to understand at a glance. For example, whenthe icon I2 specifying the image capturing the chest region from thefront face is displayed with focus, the portion of the chest region ofthe human body model Ib is displayed in a different manner from theother portions such as colored in red. The example of FIG. 28 describesan example where all of the radiation image capturing corresponding toeach icon I1 to I4 is finished, and a specific capturing portion of thehuman body model Ib is not displayed with highlight.

In the example described in FIG. 28, as shown in FIG. 24, the medicalimages p1 to p4 are transmitted from the console C of the radiationimage capturing system 101 through a network such as the LAN to theinterpretation image management system S of the interpretation system102 such as the PACS, QA system, etc.

In the interpretation system 102, when a generated string of medicalimages p are transmitted from the console C of the radiation imagecapturing system 101, each medical image p is stored in the storage unitSc including an HDD, etc. and the interpretation image management deviceS manages the medical image p. Each medical image p is transmitted fromthe interpretation image management device S to each image displaydevice A as necessary, and each image p is displayed on the screen of adisplay unit Aa of each image display device A to be interpreted.

An input unit Ab such as a keyboard, mouse, etc. is connected to theimage display device A and it is possible to operate the input unit Abof the image display device A to change the order that the string ofmedical images p displayed on the screen of the display unit Aa isinterpreted, in other words, the order of display for interpretation ofthe medical image p displayed on the screen of the display unit Aa ofthe image display device A for the doctor, etc. who interprets thestring of medical images p.

When the order of display of the string of medical images p is changedby the doctor, etc. the image display device A sequentially notifies thechanged order of display to the interpretation image management deviceS.

To simplify explanation, an example below describes changing the orderof interpretation and display of the string of medical images p onlywith the image display device A. However, as shown in FIG. 24 it ispossible to connect the display unit Sa, the input unit Sb, etc. to theinterpretation image management device S itself and to change the orderof interpretation and display of the string of medical images p on theinterpretation image management device S.

In the present embodiment, the order of transmission when the string ofmedical images p are transmitted from the console C of the radiationimage capturing system 101 to the interpretation image management deviceS of the interpretation system 102 is determined by the capturingportion and the capturing condition determined in each piece of imagecapturing order information which is the base of image capturing of eachmedical image p1 to p4.

For example, a basic rule of the order of transmission may be determinedin the hospital or clinic where the radiation image capturing system 101is applied. In this case, for example, as shown in the table of FIG. 29,the string of medical images p is transmitted in the order determined bythe capturing portion or capturing condition.

However, for example, as described above, the order of display of thestring of medical images p for a certain patient may be changed by thedoctor, etc. on the image display device A of the interpretation system102. In such example, when the medical images p are transmitted later,if the string of medical images p are transmitted based on the abovebasic rules according to the table shown in FIG. 29, the doctor, etc.needs to change the order of display of the string of medical images pof the patient on the image display device A each time, which is aburden.

Therefore, other than the table according to the basic rule as shown inFIG. 29, the console C includes a table corresponding the capturingportion and the capturing condition with the order of transmission foreach patient and when the string of medical images p of the patient istransmitted to the interpretation image management device S, this tableis referred to determine the order of transmission of the string ofmedical images p. Moreover, when the order of display of the string ofmedical images p is changed on the image display device A and theinterpretation image management device S, the table is modifiedaccording to the change.

Below, the above is specifically described. Below, in order todistinguish from the table according to the basic rule (see FIG. 29),the table modified and determined for each patient is to be a historytable T.

In the default state, the history table T showing the order oftransmission of the string of medical images p from the console C to theinterpretation image management device S is the same as the tableaccording to the basic rules as shown in for example, FIG. 29. As shownin FIG. 29, regarding at least the capturing portion, the history tableT is set to transmit from the portion of the upper side of the body ofthe patient first and then to sequentially transmit toward the lowerside. Then, regarding each capturing portion, the order of transmissionis set in detail for each capturing condition.

The history table T showing the order of transmission is managed foreach patient, in other words, in the present embodiment corresponded toeach patient ID and stored in, for example, the storage unit Cc. Then,when the string of medical images p of the patient is transmitted to theinterpretation image management device S, the console C refers to thehistory table T of the order of transmission corresponded to the patientID of the patient, and transmits the string of medical images p in orderaccording to the above.

For example, in the example of the string of medical images p1 to p4shown in FIG. 28, in the default state, the console C determines thetransmission order to transmit to the interpretation image managementdevice S in the order of medical image p3 of head region front face,medical image p2 of chest region front face, medical image p1 of abdomenregion front face, medical image p4 of leg region R, and transmits thestring of medical images p1 to p4 to the interpretation image managementdevice S of the interpretation system 102 in this order.

The string of medical images p1 to p4 transmitted according to the aboveorder of transmission are transmitted from the interpretation imagemanagement device S to the predetermined image display device A andusually interpreted with the image display device A by the attendingdoctor of the patient M. On the screen of the display unit Aa of theimage display device A, the string of medical images p1 to p4 aredisplayed in the order of transmission transmitted from the console C tothe interpretation image management device S.

Then, when the attending doctor of the patient M considers there is noproblem with the order of display of the string of medical images p1 top4 displayed on the screen of the display unit Aa of the image displaydevice A, in other words, the order of transmission, usually the orderof display of the string of medical images p1 to p4 is not changed.Therefore, in this case, since the order of display, in other words, theorder of transmission is not changed, later, when the medical image p ofthe patient M is transmitted, the console C transmits the medical imagep to the interpretation image management device S according to the orderof transmission shown in FIG. 29, in other words, the history table T.

When the next time, image capturing of the capturing portion or thecapturing condition which is not determined in the history table T isperformed on the patient, in other words, for example, image capturingof an image of the whole body of the patient M obtained by imagecapturing long in length which is not determined in the history table Tof FIG. 29 is performed, the console C considers these images as themedical image p performed with new capturing portion and capturingcondition and adds the capturing portion and the capturing conditionsuch as capturing portion “whole body” capturing condition “front faceP→A” to the most bottom area of the history table T as shown in FIG. 30to modify the history table T.

Then, according to the modified history table T, the medical image p istransmitted to the interpretation image management device S. Therefore,the next time after the next time, when similar image capturing isperformed and the string of medical images p are transmitted, forexample, the medical image p, such as the above whole body image, whichis the type newly added to the history table T of the order oftransmission is transmitted last in the string of medical images p.

When the doctor, etc. rearranges and changes the order of display andinterpretation (in other words, the order of display) of the string ofmedical images p1 to p4 on the screen of the display unit Aa of theimage display device A, as described above, the changed order of displayof the string of medical images p1 to p4 is notified from the imagedisplay device A to the interpretation image management device S.

In this case, for example, when the medical images p1 to p4 aretransmitted in the order of the medical image p3 of head region frontface, the medical image p2 of chest region front face, the medical imagep1 of abdomen region front face, and the medical image p4 of leg regionR from the console C to the interpretation image management device S,each medical image p3, p2, p1 and p4 are displayed in this order on thescreen of the display unit Aa of the image display device A.

As an example, when the doctor, etc. interprets the medical image p, themedical image p3 of head region front face is moved after anothermedical image p and the display order is rearranged and changed to anorder of, for example, the medical image p2 of chest region front face,the medical image p1 of abdomen region front face, the medical image p4of leg region R, and the medical image p3 of head region front face.

Then, when the order of display of each medical image p1 to p4 ischanged on the image display device A as described above, the changeddisplay order [p2, p1, p4, p3] of the string of medical images p1 to p4is notified from the image display device A to the interpretation imagemanagement device S. In the present embodiment, the interpretation imagemanagement device S notifies the notified changed display order [p2, p1,p4, p3] to the console C of the radiation image capturing system 101.

When the changed display order [p2, p1, p4, p3] is notified from theinterpretation image management device S, the console C modifies theorder of the capturing portion and the capturing condition determiningthe order of transmission of the medical image p and generates a newhistory table T of the order of transmission based on the changeddisplay order [p2, p1, p4, p3].

Specifically, in this case, as described above, since the order ofdisplay is changed by moving the medical image p3 of head region frontface after the other medical images which are the medical image p2 ofchest region front face, the medical image p1 of abdomen region frontface and the medical image p4 of leg region R, the console C reads thehistory table T of the order of transmission regarding the patient Mfrom the storage unit Cc and modifies the history table T form the stateshown in FIG. 29 to the state shown in FIG. 31.

Then, the history table T after modification is stored overwriting thehistory table T of the order of transmission regarding the patient Mstored in the storage unit Cc. Even if the capturing portion is thesame, when the order of display of the medical image p with thedifferent capturing condition is changed, the order of the capturingcondition of the capturing portion in the history table T of the orderof transmission is modified to match the change, and the history table Twith the new order of transmission is generated.

With this, the order of transmission of the string of medical images pis modified corresponding to the order of display changed by the doctor,etc., and the above order is stored. Therefore, for example, when theattending doctor of the patient M interprets the string of medicalimages p regarding the patient M, the string of medical images p aretransmitted and displayed to the image display device A in the orderwhich the attending doctor desires to interpret.

Therefore, the attending doctor, etc. does not have to change the orderof display of the medical image p each time on the screen of the displayunit Aa of the image display device A. Moreover, even if the attendingdoctor, etc. does not specify the order of transmission of the medicalimages p each time on the console C, the string of medical images p aretransmitted to the image display device A and displayed in the order inwhich the attending doctor desires to interpret. Therefore, the medicalimage system 100 (see FIG. 24) including the radiation image capturingsystem 101 and the interpretation system 102 becomes easy to use for thedoctor, etc.

As described above, the modified history table T is stored overwritingthe history table T of the order of transmission regarding the patient Mstored in the storage unit Cc and when the medical images p aretransmitted, the console C refers to the history table T of the order oftransmission regarding the patient M stored in the storage unit Cc totransmit the string of medical images p. Therefore, the string ofmedical images p can be transmitted securely in the order oftransmission according to the order of display modified by the doctor,etc.

Therefore, the attending doctor, etc. of the patient M can interpret thestring of medical images p in the same order of display each timeregarding at least the patient M, and can interpret the medical images pin the order of display matching his interpretation style.

When the attending doctor, etc. of the patient M desires to change theorder of display of the string of medical images p regarding the patientM, by rearranging the order of display on the screen of the display unitAa of the image display device A, the above is reflected on the order oftransmission of the medical images p from then after, and it is easy tochange the order of display of the medical images p. With this point,the medical image system 100 is easy to use for the doctor, etc.

When the order of display of each medical image p1 to p4 is changed onthe image display device A, instead of the console C modifying the orderof transmission from the console C to the interpretation imagemanagement device S, the modification can be performed in theinterpretation image management device S which receives the notificationof change of the order of display from the image display device A.

In this case, when the interpretation image management device S receivesthe notification to change the order of display of the string of medicalimages p from the image processing device A, based on the changed orderof display, the interpretation image management device S changes theorder of the capturing portion and the capturing condition in thehistory table T determining the order of transmission of the string ofmedical images p regarding the patient M as shown in the change from,for example, the transmission order shown in FIG. 29 to the transmissionorder shown in FIG. 31, to modify the history table T of the order oftransmission and to change the order of transmission. Then, the changedhistory table T of the order of transmission is notified to the consoleC.

Then, the interpretation image management device S notifies to theconsole C the information of the history table T of the order oftransmission regarding the patient M modified and changed in this way.The console C overwrites and stores the history table T of the order oftransmission regarding the patient M modified with the interpretationimage management device S on the history table T of the order oftransmission regarding the patient M stored in the storage unit Cc.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to achieve the sameadvantageous effects as the above and the medical image system 100 iseasy to use for the doctor, etc.

According to the above configuration, when the change of the order ofdisplay of the string of medical images p regarding a certain patient isperformed on the interpretation image management device S or the imagedisplay device A of the interpretation system 102 included in themedical image system 100, the order of transmission of the medicalimages p regarding the patient from the console C of the radiation imagecapturing system 101 side of the medical image system 100 to theinterpretation image management device S is modified to match thechanged order of display, and the modified order of transmission isstored in the console C side.

Therefore, in the image capturing of the patient from the next timeafter, the operator such as the radiation technologist, etc. cantransmit the string of medical images p regarding the patient from theconsole C in the order which the doctor, etc. desires to interpret, andit is possible to display the string of medical images p in the orderwhich the doctor, etc. desires to interpret on the screen of the displayunit Aa of the image display device A which the doctor, etc. interprets.

Then, the doctor, etc. does not have to change the order of display ofthe medical image p each time on the screen of the display unit Aa ofthe image display device A, and even when the doctor, etc. does notspecify the order of transmission of the medical image p each time onthe console C, the string of medical images p are automaticallytransmitted to the image display device A and displayed in the orderwhich the doctor, etc. desires to interpret. Therefore, the string ofmedical images p can be interpreted in the order of display whichmatches the interpretation style of the doctor, etc. and the medicalimage system 100 is easy to use for the doctor, etc.

The above example describes modifying the order of transmission with theconsole C or the interpretation image management device S so that theorder of transmission reflects the order of display of the string ofmedial images p changed on the interpretation image management device Sand the image display device A. Other than the above, the operator suchas the radiation technologist, etc. can change the order of transmissionof the string of medical images p regarding the patient M on the consoleC side before transmitting the string of medical images p.

For example, when the operator such as the radiation technologist, etc.finds that the attending doctor of the patient M changed to a differentdoctor and the operator knows the order of display of the interpretationstyle of the new doctor, it is preferable that the operator can changethe order of transmission of the string of medical images p regardingthe patient M on the screen H2 of the console C in advance before theorder of display is changed on the image display device A by the newdoctor.

With such configuration, there is no need to transmit and receiveinformation of the changed order of display or the changed order oftransmission between the console C and the interpretation imagemanagement device S. Therefore, the burden on the medical image system100 is reduced. Moreover, the new doctor does not have to rearrange theorder of display of the string of medical images p and can immediatelyinterpret the string of medical images p in the order of display whichmatches his interpretation style. Therefore, the medical image system100 is easy to use for the new doctor.

In order to achieve the above, as shown in FIG. 28, on the console C ofthe present embodiment, when all of the radiation image capturingfinishes based on all of the selected image capturing order information,in other words, in the example shown in FIG. 28, based on each piece ofimage capturing order information corresponding to the icons I1 to I4,and each medical image p1 to p4 is displayed in the correspondingposition where each icon I1 to I4 was displayed, “transmission preview”button Bp is displayed above each medical image p1 to p4 of the screenH2.

Then, when the operator clicks the “transmission preview” button Bp, thescreen switches and the transmission preview screen H3 as shown in FIG.32 is displayed. On the transmission preview screen H3, according to thehistory table T of the transmission order, each preview imagecorresponding to the medical images p1 to p4 is displayed arranged inorder from, for example, the left side. Below, the description isdescribed as medical image p, etc. however, in the present embodiment,actually, each preview image corresponding to each medical image p isdisplayed on the transmission preview screen H3.

According to the history table T in the order of transmission shown inFIG. 29, the string of medial images p1 to p4 are displayed on thetransmission preview screen H3 in the order of display shown in FIG. 32.In this case, as described above, according to the history table T ofthe order of transmission, the medical images p1 to p4 for diagnosis aredisplayed in the order of the medical image p3 of head region frontface, the medical image p2 of chest region front face, the medical imagep1 of abdomen region front face and the medial image p4 of leg portionR.

Then, below the above display, a message is displayed to ask whether ornot the images should be transmitted in the order displayed and theoperator such as the radiation technologist, etc. can select whether ornot to transmit the string of medical images p1 to p4 in the orderdisplayed.

Then, when the operator clicks the “OK” button, each medical image p1 top4 is transmitted to the interpretation image management device S in theorder of display, in other words, in the order of [p3, p2, p1, p4]according to the history table T of the order of transmission regardingthe patient M shown in FIG. 29.

When the images are not transmitted in the order of display, the “NG”button is clicked. When the “NG” button is clicked, as shown in FIG. 33,at the bottom of each medical image p1 to p4 displayed in thetransmission preview screen H3, each medical image p1* to p4* isdisplayed in the same order as the medical images p1 to p4 of the upperside.

However, for example, by drag and drop, the order of display of eachmedical image p1* to p4* displayed on the lower side can be changed asshown in FIG. 34.

Then, when the operator changes the order of display of each medicalimage p1* to p4*, and the “enter” button at the bottom is clicked, asshown in FIG. 35, the console C displays each medical image p1 to p4 inthe changed display order [p2, p1, p4, p3] and similar to the abovemodifies the order of the capturing portion and the capturing conditiondetermining the order of transmission of the medical images p based onthe changed display order [p2, p1, p4, p3].

In this case, a new history table T of the order of transmission isgenerated as shown in FIG. 31. Then, the console C overwrites and storesthe modified history table T on the history table T of the transmissionorder regarding the patient M stored in the storage unit Cc and alsotransmits to the interpretation image management device S each medicalimage p in the order of [p2, p1, p4, p3] according to the changedhistory table T of the order of transmission.

Regarding when the order of transmission of the medical images p1 to p4on the console C side is modified, instead of or in addition to aftereach medical image p1 to p4 is generated, it is possible to perform themodification when each image capturing order information is selected onthe selection screen H1 and when each icon I1 to I4 corresponding toeach piece of image capturing order information is displayed on thescreen H2 using each icon I1 to I4.

In this case, although illustration is omitted, “transmission preview”button Bp as shown in FIG. 28 is displayed on the screen H2. Then, whenthe “transmission preview” button Bp is clicked at this time, thetransmission preview screen H3 as shown in FIG. 32 is displayed.

In this case, on the transmission preview screen H3, instead of eachmedical image p1 to p4 as shown in FIG. 32, each icon I1 to I4 isdisplayed in the order of, for example, icons I3, I2, I1, I4 accordingto the history table of the order of transmission. Then, the icons I1 toI4 can be displayed rearranged as in each medical image p1 to p4 and p1*to p4* shown in FIG. 33 to FIG. 35, and the order of transmission of themedical images p1 to p4 can be modified on the console C side.

In this case, each icon I1 to I4 is rearranged in the order of [I2, I1,I4, I3] on the transmission preview screen H3, and then, when the screenis switched to the screen H2, according to the above change in order, itis possible to display each icon I2, I1, I4, I3 in the order of upperleft, upper right, bottom left, bottom right on the screen H2. With suchconfiguration, the radiation image capturing can be sequentiallyperformed according to the changed order of transmission of the medicalimages p1 to p4 which is [p2, p1, p4, p3].

The above embodiments and modifications describe providing a buckydevice 51 in the image capturing room Ra (see FIG. 25) of the radiationimage capturing system 100 of the medical image system 100. However, thepresent invention can be applied to a state such as where only adedicated device where the radiation image capturing device 1 is formedas one with a supporting stage, etc. is provided or where the buckydevice 51 and the dedicated device are mixed in the image capturing roomRa.

The bucky device 51 and the dedicated device of the above embodimentsinclude other types of radiation image capturing devices such as aradiation image capturing device which can perform image capturing in along length where an image is captured in a wide range of the body ofthe patient while changing the position of the radiation image capturingdevice in the height direction of the patient or a mammography devicewhich can capture images of the breast of the patient. In this case alsothe present invention can be applied.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, andsuitable changes are possible.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be applied to the field of radiation imagecapturing (specifically, the field of medicine).

1. A console which receives a plurality of pieces of image data obtainedby radiation image capturing from a radiation image capturing apparatusto generate a string of medical images based on the received image data,and transmits the string of medical images to an external apparatus inorder according to a transmission order defined according to a capturingportion and/or a capturing condition, the console comprising: a displaywhich displays preview images corresponding to the string of medicalimages aligned in the transmission order; and a section which changes adisplay order of the displayed preview images, wherein, the transmissionorder is changed based on the changed display order and the string ofmedical images are transmitted in order to an external apparatusaccording to the changed transmission order.
 2. The console of claim 1,further comprising, a table which corresponds the capturing portionand/or the capturing condition with the transmission order, and wherein,the preview images are displayed aligned in the transmission order basedon the table.
 3. The console of claim 2, wherein, the table correspondsthe capturing portion and/or the capturing condition with thetransmission order for each object.
 4. The console of claim 2, wherein,when the display order of the preview image is changed, the table ismodified based on the changed display order.
 5. The console of claim 2,wherein, when information to change the transmission order of the stringof medical images is transmitted from the external apparatus, the tableis modified based on the information.
 6. A radiation image capturingsystem comprising: a radiation source which emits radiation on anobject; a radiation image capturing device which includes a plurality ofradiation detecting elements which are arranged two dimensionally, andwhich reads charge generated in each radiation detecting element due toemission of radiation from the radiation source as image data; and aconsole according to claim 1.